Nara
Japan's first permanent capital (710-784) nearly bankrupted the nation building Todai-ji; 1,240 years later, most World Heritage sites of any prefecture. 2026: cultural tourism sustains.
Nara exists because Japan needed permanence. In 710, the imperial court established its first fixed capital at Heijo (now Nara), ending centuries of moving the capital with each new emperor. Within decades, 200,000 people lived here—7% of Japan's entire population—and 10,000 worked government jobs. The city was modeled on Chang'an, Tang China's capital, importing the template for urban civilization.
The ambition nearly bankrupted Japan. Building Todai-ji Temple—still the world's largest wooden building—required 2.6 million workers and consumed most of the nation's bronze for its Great Buddha. By 784, the powerful Buddhist monasteries had become political threats; the capital moved to Kyoto, and Nara became a museum of its own brief supremacy.
Today, that museum is the economy. Nara contains more World Heritage sites than any other prefecture: Todai-ji, Horyuji (world's oldest wooden building), and the sacred Kii Mountain pilgrimage routes. The 1,200 deer roaming Nara Park—"messengers of the gods," protected by city law—have become Japan's most photographed animals. Low rents and clean air now attract families and artisans fleeing Tokyo and Osaka. By 2026, Nara's 74-year run as capital continues to pay dividends 1,240 years later—proving that strategic over-investment in cultural infrastructure can create permanent tourism advantages. The temples that bankrupted Japan now sustain it.