VR Guide Lets Visitors See Lost Scenes at Kofukuji Temple; Tourists Can Use Smartphones to View Original Architecture of Nara Pref. Complex

The Yomiuri Shimbun

13:00 JST, October 27, 2024

NARA — A service called the “Kohfukuji Temple Visual Guide” has been launched at Kofukuji Temple in Nara, allowing visitors to enjoy a high-definition virtual reality (VR) reproduction of the temple complex on their smartphones.

Currently, the temple’s five-story pagoda, a national treasure, is undergoing its first major repairs in 120 years and is covered in scaffolding, blocking it from view. The VR guide shows what the five-story pagoda looked like before the current work began, as well as what the temple complex looked like when it was first established.

When visitors use their smartphones to scan QR codes on signs at four locations on the temple grounds and  input certain keywords, the VR images appear, along with explanations of the history and highlights of the temple complex.

The signs are located in front of the Southern Round Hall (an Important Cultural Property), at the entrance to the north approach to the complex, in front of the administrative quarters, and on the paved path in front of the National Treasure Hall.

The visual guide recreates sights that can no longer seen, such as the Southern Great Gate, of which only the reconstructed base remains, and the three-story pagoda, another national treasure, which was rebuilt in the Kamakura period (1185-1333) and has now lost most of the brilliantly colored patterns that were once painted inside.

Visitors can also use the guide’s augmented reality (AR) function to take commemorative photos with the five-story pagoda as it was before the repair work displayed in the background.

The service is available in Japanese and English. Tourists from Japan and abroad are already touring the temple grounds with their smartphones in hand, comparing the actual scenery with the VR images. A 55-year-old male office worker from Yokkaichi, Mie Prefecture, said: “The guide is easy to view and understand. I also got to see the pagoda even though it’s currently under construction.”