Japan: Nara and the sacred deer

Where To Go Next By I&P
Mar 21, 2023
2 min read

Nara was the first permanent imperial city of Japan during the 8th century when Buddhism was the most important religion. It was why the capital was moved away, as the Emperors were afraid of the excessive influence Buddhism could have in the affairs of the state.

But the city still kept many magnificent temples to this day, and also a park full of deer.

After a 1h train ride from Kyoto, we arrived at Nara's JR station. We decided to take the bus right away to go directly to the Todaiji temple.

There and everywhere in the vast park of Nara, you could see many of the 1300 wild deer that wander the park freely, barely afraid of people and sometimes following them to see if they have food. These deer are considered a national treasure and messengers of the gods.

Tourists could buy deer crackers for 200 JPY to feed them. Those deer crackers were the same from each vendor and seemed to contain healthy elements based on what we read on Google. Deer should mostly eat the grass around the park and drink the water from the local ponds, but they know that humans provide those yummy crackers! 🦌

The Todaiji temple is a massive temple, from the entrance gate to the Buddha Hall. This last one is almost 50m high, and the Buddha it houses is 15m high. This temple is the must do of Nara, and the entrance just to the Buddha Hall (not including the museum) is 600 JPY/pax.

East of the Buddha Hall, there were a few traditional buildings, one of them being the February Hall, where you can go up to get a better view of the park.

After that, we walked to Kasuga Taisha in the middle of Nara park, a red temple contrasting with the green trees, which were gorgeous on that beautiful sunny day.

Next to the temple, there were lines of Japanese stone lanterns, creating a mystical but very serene and lovely atmosphere in this half-forest, half-temple neighborhood full of sacred deer.