Buses Long-distance buses for Tokyo (Shinjuku) and Yokohama stop outside both the Kintetsu and JR Nara train stations. Buses for Fukuoka, however, skip the JR station.

Car rental Eki Rent-a-car (tel 0742/26-3929) is next door to JR Nara Station, while Toyota Rent-a-car (tel 0742/22-0100) and Nippon Rent-a-car (tel 0742/24-5701) have branches near the Kintetsu Station.

Hospital Nara's main hospital is the Sakurai Byoin, 2 Imako-cho (tel 0742/26-0277), with a 24hr emergency department. It's located on the main road, Tegai-dori, northwest of Todai-ji.

Internet access Nara City Tourist Information Centre has a full list of places offering Internet access, though at the time of writing there were no Internet cafA©s in central Nara.

Post offices Nara's Central Post Office is on Omiya-dori, a fair walk west of centre. It has 24hr mail services, but for other purposes the sub-post offices in the centre of town are more convenient .

Shopping Among a range of local crafts, Nara is particularly renowned for its high-quality sumi-e ink, calligraphy brushes ( fude ), tea whisks ( chasen ) and bleached hemp cloth ( sarashi ). You'll find all these on sale along the main shopping streets, or try the Nara Prefectural Commerce, Industry and Tourist Hall, on Omiya-dori to the east of Kintetsu-Nara Station, which stocks the full range of Nara crafts.

Taxis The main taxi companies are Kintetsu Taxi (tel 0742/22-5501), Hattori Taxi (tel 0742/22-5521) and Kai-Nara (tel 0742/22-3383).