The Rooftop of Nara Prefecture Office

This guide to the rooftop of the Nara Prefecture Office starts with a two-meter gap between the pagoda across town and the government building beneath your feet, and unpacks the height law that keeps Nara's skyline low enough to protect its ancient temples. It follows architect Mitsuo Katayama's design from the late 1950s, which borrowed its ring of slim concrete piloti from the covered corridors of ancient Asuka and Nara temple compounds, and the deer who now wander into that courtyard off the street. Stand at the rail and turn slowly to take in Todai-ji, Kofuku-ji and the hills beyond.