Ando Town

Birthplace of Nara Prefecture's re-founder.

Imamura Residence, Kinzo's home

Photo by Popbeans (CC BY-SA 4.0)

01 ／ Lamp wicks

Pulling lamp wicks from rush isthe town's first designated cultural property.

Toshin-hiki is the work of stripping the skin from Japanese lamp rush (igusa) to take out the toshin, the pith used as the burning wick of lamps and Japanese candles. From the mid-Edo period to around Showa 40 (1965) many households did it, and by a record of 1818 to 1836 it made up around 10 to 20 percent of cash income, though it varied by year. The Toshin Preservation Society now carries it on, and the prefecture records that the wicks are also used at the Shuni-e rites at Nigatsu-do Hall of Todaiji Temple.

Town's first cultural property, designated 1 June 2015
Around 10 to 20 percent of cash income, 1818 to 1836
Toshin Preservation Society founded December 1996

02 ／ Tenri Light Railway

The community bus's predecessor wasthe Tenri Light Railway, opened in 1915.

The Tenri Light Railway began service between Shin-Horyuji and Tenri in 1915, and the town writes that it was the predecessor of the Ando community bus. The Hirahata to Shin-Horyuji section through the town stopped running in 1945 and was abolished in 1952. The town's sightseeing pamphlet says a brick embankment remains in Kido Pond in west Ando, and lists it as the town's designated cultural property No. 2.

Opened 7 February 1915, Shin-Horyuji to Tenri
Hirahata to Shin-Horyuji abolished 1 April 1952
Town-designated cultural property No. 2 (structure)

03 ／ Gokuraku-ji

A figure thought to be the Hiroshima Daibutsuis kept at Gokuraku-ji in Ando.

The town writes that the seated Amida Buddha at Gokuraku-ji, about 4 m high, appears to be the Hiroshima Daibutsu, which was installed in Hiroshima city after the war to mourn the victims of the atomic bomb and then lost track of. The prefecture records that its arrival here has been established and that exchanges with Hiroshima take place. The temple's principal image, a wooden seated Amida Nyorai, is a national Important Cultural Property.

About 4 m high
Principal image: national Important Cultural Property
Said to be founded by Prince Shotoku

Living here

Five minutes by bus from Horyuji Station.

about 7,000 people
Rural district town

There is no railway station in the town; the nearest is JR Horyuji Station, in Ikaruga. By the town's timetable, revised on 8 June 2026, the shortest ride from Horyuji Station to the Ando Town Office is 5 minutes, on the community bus and the Nara Kotsu bus. The town's sightseeing pamphlet describes the area of Ando as lying at the lowest point in the Nara Basin.

People living here: 7,225people
Area: 4.31km²
Households: 3,068households
Rent (average for rentals): —
Healthcare: 0 hospitals ／ 3 clinics

Area and habitable land at the same scalee-Stat B1101 / B1103

Children waiting for childcare: —1 nurseries and similar
Home purchase subsidy: —
Average annual temperature: —

These 3 items are waiting on a nationwide data source. We do not fill them with estimates.

ACCESS

Where you can go from here.

Ando Town in Japan34.606°N 135.757°E

to HoryujiLocal bus5min

Travel times follow 安堵町コミュニティバス・奈良交通路線バスかしの木台住宅線『バス運行表』令和8年6月8日改正（町公式『安堵町コミュニティバスの運行について（令和8年6月8日から）』〈更新 2026-06-02〉の PDF 20260608kaisei.pdf・保存 $SP/ando/bus.pdf）。平日・土曜日・日曜日祝日の3つの表で、法隆寺駅『発』→安堵町役場『着』を、同じ便の列で数えた。 (checked 2026-10-14). They vary by time of day.

Shape

Borders 4 municipalities.

Territory of Ando Town

Boundaries: National Land Numerical Information (N03)

North to south

3.3km

大和郡山市, 斑鳩町, 川西町, 河合町

Ando Town isthis kind of town.

01The Imamura Residence is a house whose family served as village headmen from the Edo period, and the birthplace of Imamura Kinzo, the campaigner who led Nara Prefecture's separation from Osaka Prefecture and re-establishment in 1887; it has a front gate, tea house, main house, storehouse and garden, and since 1993 has been the town's historical and folklore museum
02Toshin-hiki is the town's first designated cultural property, and the Preservation Society carries it on from growing the rush; the pamphlet says the brick embankment of the Tenri Light Railway, which ran through the town, is the town's designated cultural property No. 2
03At Gokuraku-ji is a figure thought to be the Hiroshima Daibutsu, installed in Hiroshima to mourn the victims of the atomic bomb; the temple's principal image, a wooden seated Amida Nyorai, is a national Important Cultural Property

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.

Ando Town official site ↗Wikipedia ↗