One interesting feature, just outside the grounds of Yakushi-ji, is a black post box.
In Kyōto and Nara it is common to find subdued colours close to important heritage sites. Even convenience stores are obliged to tone down their bright signs.

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By the time construction work finished on the temple in 698, Emperor Tenmu had been dead for 12 years.

A decade later work began on the new capital, Heijō-kyō (平城京 - modern Nara), and in 718 Yakushi-ji was partly dismantled and moved to its new (current) home.

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The emperor's act of devotion worked, and his consort not only survived, but went on to succeed him as Empress Jitō (持統天皇 645-703).

Yakushi-ji originally stood beneath Mt. Miminashi in Kashihara (耳成山)/橿原), site of the then capital, Fujiwara-kyō (藤原京 694-710).

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this world
bristles with thorns...
yet there are lotuses
世の中よ針だらけでも蓮の花
-Kobayashi Issa (小林一茶), 1815.
Trans. David Lanoue.

The mesmerizing, ultrahydrophobic surface of lotus leaves😵‍💫👏😊

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