Japan Guide
Around Tokyo
Naritasan Shinshō-ji
Many of the buildings inside the large temple complex are modern reproductions, but the colourful three-storey pagoda in front of the Great Main Hall dates from the eighteenth century and is decorated with fearsome gilded dragon heads snarling from under brightly painted rafters. Behind the main hall, the temple's pretty gardens include a calligraphy museum, small forests and ornamental ponds.