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TRH spend a day in Nara and Osaka

29th October 2008

The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall visited one of the world's most magnificent Buddhist temples today on their overseas tour of Japan.

Their Royal Highnesses visited the Todaiji Temple, one of the best-known Buddhist sites in the southern city of Nara and a UNESCO World Heritage site.  Their Royal Highnesses are on a five-day tour of Japan where many of its population follow the main religions of Buddhism and Shintoism.

Todaiji temple was founded by Emperor Shomu in 745 to protect against the epidemics which were commonplace at that time, and to consolidate the power of the Imperial Throne.

The temple took more than 15 years to build and the main hall is the world’s largest wooden building with a 15-metre-high statue of the Buddha, originally cast in 752, an extraordinary achievement for the time.

Upon arrival, The Prince and The Duchess were greeted by the Chief Abbot Douzen Ueno, and Her Royal Highness was presented with flowers from two children from the Todaiji-Gakuen kindergarten.

Their Royal Highnesses were also welcomed to the place of worship in Japan by a herd of tame Sika deer who calmly walked up and let Their Royal Highnesses stroke their fur.

In ancient times the animals were thought of as ‘messengers of the gods’ and today roam freely around the UNESCO World Heritage site.

The Prince and The Duchess walked on and joined hundreds of visitors to the centuries old Todaiji complex.

Their Royal Highnesses made their way through Nandai-mon, an enormous gate that led to Daibutsu-den hall, home to the 50ft-high icon that is more than 1,000 years old.

The Prince is well-known for his interest in different faiths and work to promote inter-faith dialogue.

In a gesture of respect, The Prince and The Duchess dropped incense into a burner at the feet of the giant Buddha.

Afterwards, Their Royal Highnesses walked to the Imperial Treasure House, Shosoin to see historical items and see Japanese crafts first-hand.  Escorted by The Director Mr Kazuki Sugimoto, they walked through the Japanese garden to the old Shosiin wooden building.

The building is a treasure house of religious items used in Todaiji Temple and ancient items that came to Japan from the Silk Road. 

Next The Prince and The Duchess travelled to the Nara Craft Museum to be greeted by the Mayor and Deputy Mayor of Nara City.  They were shown Japanese traditional art and in the workshop saw examples of testile weaving, wooden one-knife carving and ceramic art.

The Prince founded The Prince's School of Traditional Arts (PSTA) to promote and protect traditional arts and crafts throughout the world, and today met Japanese alumni of the school, Hitomi Yasuda and Kayo Kimura.

They showed The Prince and The Duchess examples of their work before introducing Mr Ohsio, a master of Nara traditional ceramic art, who presented them with a gift.

Later The Prince of Wales visited the consumer electronics company Sharp to see new technological developments first-hand.

The company's founder Tokuji Hayakawa kick-started his business's fortunes by inventing the "ever sharp" mechanical pencil which later became the firm's name.

Today it employs 60,000 people with a number of operations based in the United Kingdom including a laboratory facility in Oxford.

Mikio Katayama, President of Sharp, showed The Prince a timeline of the company's significant products during his visit to its factory and research and development centre near the Todai-ji temple site.

Items on display included the mechanical pencil, first produced in 1915 and a television made in 1953, the year Sharp first mass produced them.

Meanwhile, The Duchess visited Osaka Government Meeting House to meet people involved in the British Council School Links programme.

Back in Tokyo, The Prince and The Duchess met the country's Prime Minister Taro Aso, who took up office last month.

The Prince and The Prime Minister discussed environmental issues with The Prince highlighting the efforts of his Prince's Rainforest Project to find a solution to protecting the forests.