Toshodai-ji exists because a blind monk would not give up. Ganjin, a Chinese master of Buddhist law, was invited to Japan in the eighth century to teach proper monastic ordination, and he tried to cross the sea five times, defeated by storms, pirates and official obstruction, until he went blind. On the sixth attempt, in 753, he arrived in Japan, and in 759 he founded this temple in Nara. His own ordination hall still stands in the grounds, and a dry-lacquer statue of him, said to be a faithful likeness, is kept at the temple and shown only occasionally.
The temple's main hall, the Kondo, is one of the finest surviving buildings of the Tenpyo period, with a row of eight great pillars, a wide tiled roof and a calm, balanced shape that influenced centuries of Japanese architecture. Inside it holds a huge gilded thousand-armed Kannon surrounded by other statues. The hall was restored in a long project that finished in 2009, and the roof has been reassembled with great care. The temple is part of the Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara, a World Heritage group, but it is quieter than the better-known temples, and the pines and moss give the grounds a feeling of calm.
You arrive from Nara by quiet streets that run through the western part of the city, where the old capital's grid still shapes the roads. It is flat and suburban, with narrow lanes, bicycles and small shops. There is parking at the temple, and the staff are friendly, though motorbike spaces are limited. Nearby Yakushi-ji, with its elegant pagoda, is a short walk. For more adventurous riding, the roads over the hills toward Ikoma and the Katsuragi range give proper bends and good views over the Nara basin.
Nara has a population of more than three hundred and sixty thousand, so petrol and food are easy to find. Try narazuke pickles and kakinoha sushi. Autumn colours in November and spring blossom are the prettiest seasons, but the grounds are pleasant at any time, especially in the early morning.