A vestige of the former Sanjo-oji Street of Heijō-kyo, Sanjo-dori Street is the only street that still maintains to this day on the scale of the “main streets” in the jobo (grid plan area) of Heijō-kyo. The mountain of Kasuga, from where the “spring sun” rises, is located to the east of this street, and to the west, there was a road leading to Osaka through the“Kuragari-toge” mountain pass, behind which the sun goes down. During the Meiji Period, when railways were opened and Nara Station, then called “Sanjo Sutensho,” (Sanjo Station with a Kansai accent) was built, inns and souvenir shops began to line the Sanjo-dori Street, turning it into the entrance of Nara City. Presently, the number of visitors that use Kintetsu Nara Station surpasses that of JR Nara Station. However, due to the increase in the number of tourists from overseas visiting Japan, JR Nara Station is regaining its momentum. “Sanjo-dori Street Shopping Mall” extends from JR Nara Station to the intersection in front of the Nara City Tourist Information Center. Sanjo-dori Street is also the approach to Kasuga Taisha Shrine, and it is the stage of numerous events throughout all four seasons, such as the Kasuga Wakamiya On-matsuri Festival in December, the Uneme-matsuri Festival held during the harvest moon, and the Basara-matsuri Festival in the summer. Midway along this street there is the mausoleum of Emperor Kaika (Kasuga-no-izakawa-no-sakae-no-misaki), and shrines that date back from before the establishment of Heijō-kyo, such as Isagawa-jinja Shrine and Kango-jinja Shrine dot the surrounding area. City planning projects that include widening sidewalks and undergrounding power lines continue to be carried out on this street, which welcomes visitors to the tourist destination city of Nara as “a symbolic road for leisurely walks.” Here, one can find Japanese-style confectionery shops that have operated in Nara prefecture for 400 years, narazuke pickle shops, souvenir stores and many restaurants open until late at night.