The T2K Neutrino Experiment and the ND280 Near Detector

The T2K long-baseline neutrino oscillation experiment will search for evidence of neutrino flavor change over a distance of 295 km in a high-intensity muon neutrino beam. The primary goal of the T2K experiment is to measure the neutrino mixing parameter $\theta_{13}$. The near detector is located at 280 meters from proton target at the J-PARC facility in Tokai-mura, Japan, and has already started collecting cosmic ray data. This talk describes the T2K experiment and the aspects of the near detector complex.