Motoko Yamada, 27, the manager of a Thai restaurant named Rahotsu, has lived in Nara since 2002, when she moved to the prefecture to attend Nara Women's University. A welfare studies major who wanted to put her knowledge to work in local communities, after graduation it was a natural decision for her to continue with her then-part-time job at the restaurant, whose owner, Fumito Bessho, has been active in community- building efforts, including organizing concerts in the precincts of temples.

At Rahotsu (the Japanese name for the myriad tiny curls of hair on the head of the Buddha), Yamada and her staff have over the years tried to infuse a touch of Nara and its history into its otherwise authentic Thai cuisine.

As a result, diners now find that one of the appetizers on its menu is So, which is known as "ancient cheese" and which people in ancient Nara are on record as having eaten as long as 1,300 years ago when it was Japan's capital. So is made from milk that is simmered until it becomes solid. It is not only time- consuming, but it also takes two liters of milk to produce just a few tiny pieces of this richly flavored "ancient cheese" which has a unique texture somewhere between regular cheese and biscuit.