I went to Kōfuku-ji in Nara, briefly during the Spring of 2010, and I can’t wait to return there. In the meantime three pictures of the place :
The Gojū-no-tō, Kōfuku-ji’s five-story pagoda is 50 meters high, and probably one of the highest pagodas in Japan. It was destroyed (by fires, earthquakes, wars) and rebuilt several times and the current one dates from 1426.
The Nanendō, originally dates from 813, but the current building is from 1789. It is open and can be visited only one day a year, on October 17th. It is my understanding that the lantern in front of the building dates from the origins of the place (9th Century).
Obligatory Sika deer shot in front of the pagoda.