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Local Industry & Specialties

Tea whisks, ink, socks, goldfish, Miwa sōmen — Nara is full of local industries that lead Japan and the world. This theme gathers traditional-craft, manufacturing-statistics and specialty-product data.

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Q.What 'world's-firsts' can you find in Nara?
Nara has a surprising number of world-firsts. The world's largest MUJI (Kashihara) and mont-bell (Nara City), the world's oldest wooden buildings (Hōryū-ji) and star chart (Kitora tomb), and one of the world's largest wooden Buddha halls (Tōdai-ji). Local industry even has a company with the world's top share in precision balls — and the list grows further once you include national firsts.
Q.Why is Yamatokoriyama known as the "Goldfish Town"?
It started in the Edo period as a side job for samurai of the local domain. Goldfish farming is said to have begun in 1724, when Yoshisato Yanagisawa moved to Yamatokoriyama from Kai Province — a history of about 300 years. The city remains one of Japan's leading producers: in 2019 it bred roughly 54 million goldfish, around 40% of the national output. The National Goldfish Scooping Championship, held since 1995, has become a symbol of the town.

Related datasets7