Spending time recently reflecting on trips to the British Museum with it’s Japanese Gallery, the beautiful Netsuke and the glorious art of tea drinking, has me homesick for Japan and in particular our memories of Nara.
It is a lovely historical oasis. Serenity, respect and beauty are the words that come to mind. Nara is the capital of Japan’s Nara Prefecture, in south-central Honshu. The city has significant temples and artwork dating to the 8th century, when it was Japan’s capital.
These Sika deer were lovely – they roam in Nara Park, the site of Tōdai-ji temple
They eat out of your hand (this one I especially loved – he had worked out that he should stand by the cart selling the deer food discs. Smart beastie) then they bow to you.
They were regarded as sacred messengers of the gods in the Shinto religion.
Daibutsu, Tōdai-ji’s 15m-high bronze Buddha, is displayed in a large wooden hall – and was a wonder to behold.
According to local folklore, deer from this area were considered sacred due to a visit from one of the four gods of Kasuga Shrine, Takemikazuchi-no-mikoto. He was said to have been invited from Kashima, Ibaraki, and appeared on Mt. Mikasa-yama riding a white deer. From that point, the deer were considered divine and sacred by both Kasuga Shrine and Kōfuku-ji. Killing one of these sacred deer was a capital offense punishable by death up until 1637, the last recorded date of a breach of that law.
After World War II, the deer were officially stripped of their sacred/divine status, and were instead designated as National Treasures and are protected as such. Today, visitors can purchase “deer-crackers” to feed the deer in the park. These crackers are exclusively sold by the WNOW company. (Cheers Wikipedia!)
By the end of the day we were drinking sake in a local stand up sake bar (they are called tachinomis) surrounded by locals who spoke no English whatsoever and some of the tastiest food we had whilst in Japan. That memory alone epitomises travelling for me.
We day-tripped on the train to Nara from where we were staying with friends in Kyoto – what a lovely day in
Japan to remember.
What travel destination can’t you get out of your head?
