Nara Park

 

 

 

Japan is the land of stationery (among other things, like anime, cherry blossoms, the rising sun, etc.), but one of the highlights of our time there was visiting Nara Park. Several people recommended this to me, and when Jon also brought it up, I figured it was a sign.

 

There’s lots to do in Nara, including temples and shrines, lots of small neighbourhood streets to walk down, and local restaurants, trails and parks, but one big draw to the city, which is close to Osaka and Kyoto, is the deer who roam around the parks, wild. They are “wild” but also mostly tame and sociable and will even bow to you if you bow to them.

 

Legend has it that one of the four gods of the Kasugataisha Shrine travelled to visit Mount Mikasa on a white deer, and so among the people, deer were considered sacred. No longer sacred, but still protected, and beloved, the deer are a part of the area’s heritage and history.

 

We visited the Deer Park, which is where the deer, while wild, congregate to enjoy some “shiva senbei,” rice crackers that you can purchase from one of the many vendors there. The deer are a bit nippy, but if you’ve ever fed a dog a treat and have figured out how to hold a treat in an open hand, you are well-equipped to handle this. They are, as evidenced by the many tourists and visitors at the park, well-fed, so it’s fairly calm as the deer peck away at the deer cakes.

 

Even Junia had fun! Junia is a bit shy with dogs, which I chalk up to not having grown up with a family dog. We are always looking for friends with calm dogs as exposure therapy for Junia, but in lieu of dogs, we found some deer.

 

 

I thought this was a nice photo of Caleb rubbing a deer under her chin, but it turns out she was eating his fanny pack.

 

 

And then we finished it off with a bowl of udon.