Nara

Nara needs 2 days: Nara Park, with over 1,200 free-roaming sika deer that bow for food, on one, and Todai-ji Temple, home to Japan's largest bronze Buddha statue inside the world's largest wooden building, on the other. March-May and October-November are best. It's mid-to-low priced, a very popular day trip from Kyoto or Osaka. It was Japan's first permanent capital in the 8th century, and its deer, considered sacred messengers of the Shinto gods since that era, have had legal protection as a natural treasure since 1957.