Hey Steemit!
If you missed the last few posts, I'm recounting my first trip to Japan way back at the end of 2015! So in the previous post, we finally finished our trilogy of exploring Universal Studios Japan! In this post, we'll be visiting the famous tourist spot; Nara deer park!
3 January 2016. Sunday.
So I mentioned that we found a stall that sells very yummy karaage just downstairs from our airbnb and we vowed that we would get the biggest size the next time we could, which was the first thing we did today!
It was sooo goood! Crispy and peppery on the outside, juicy on the inside. Absolutely yummy! 😋
Since we were hungry we stopped for some beard papa cream puffs too.
The cookie cream puff is definitely my favourite because it's crunchy on the outside; a perfect contrast to the soft and creamy custard inside. 😋
We took the shinkansen to Nara, which was less than half an hour away. And found this cute clay display at the station!
We walked along for a little bit just enjoying the nice weather until we came upon this amazing scenery:
I just love it when there's a lake reflecting the scenery perfectly; it's like nature's mirror. Here's a panorama shot:
There were quite many people enjoying the park that day too; I'm guessing most of them were tourists too. But we saw a cute doggo!
So right beside Nara Park is one of Japan's most famous and historically significant temples, called Todaiji Temple. It was constructed in 752 as the head temple of all provincial Buddhist temples of Japan and grew so powerful that the capital was moved from Nara to Nagaoka in 784 in order to lower the temple's influence on government affairs. FYI, the capital of Japan used to be Nara, then Kyoto in 794, and now Tokyo since 1868!
Source: japan-guide.com
Todaiji's main hall, the Daibutsuden (Big Buddha Hall) houses one of Japan's largest bronze statues of Buddha (Daibutsu). The 15 meters tall, seated Buddha represents Vairocana and is flanked by two Bodhisattvas.
Source: japan-guide.com
Unfortunately, we didn't actually go inside the temple and see the buddha; either because it was too crowded or it was closed. But I did get a shot of the nice pagoda:
And this building, which I assume is a hall linked to the temple.
After walking along to the park, we finally saw 1!
There was a deer just chilling in the parking lot; maybe looking for some treats. 😄 I've never seen deer this close before so it was really cool!
So I read that deer are considered the messengers of the gods in Japan, and Nara's over 1000 deer have become a symbol of the city and have even been designated as a natural treasure. Deer crackers (shika senbei) are for sale around the park, and some deer have learned to bow to visitors to ask to be fed. Nara's deer are surprisingly tame, although they can be aggressive if they think you will feed them, so make sure not to tease them with food. And this is no joke.
Earlier this year, there were many reports of tourists getting injured by the deer here, and the number of those injured has quadrupled over the past five years to fiscal 2018. Many of the injuries are believed to have occurred when tourists tried to take photos of themselves feeding the animals, often while teasing them — such as by holding the crackers out of reach. While injuries among non-Japanese continued to rise, those among Japanese have held steady. So don't mess with the deer or they'll bite/ram you!
Look at that sneaky side eye. You don't wanna mess with that face!
There weren't that many cases back in 2016 when we visited, but there were signs put up around the park to warn visitors when feeding and interacting with the deer. We made sure to be extra cautious when feeding and approaching them.
There were open enclosures in the park where most of the deer were just chilling. At the time most of them didn't have their antlers anymore, so we were pretty safe.
I actually didn't know this at the time, but the deer here actually go through an antler-cutting ceremony every year in October. During the autumn breeding season, the buck deer of Nara Park can become quite aggressive. They have been known to charge residents and visitors to Nara alike and butt and stick them with their antlers. They can also cause damage to the park’s trees and to property by rubbing and scratching their antlers against a tree’s bark or against the surface of a building’s wall. To cut down on the number of people being injured the Nara Magistrate began the Shika no Tsunokiri, Deer Antler-Cutting Ceremony, in 1671.
I've never actually seen the ceremony for myself, but I guess it might look pretty violent since they're sawing off the antlers. But not to worry, because their antlers are like human fingernails, and cutting it would probably feel pretty similar. The deer are not injured, and suffer no ill effects from the cutting.
After walking around for awhile, one of the deer approached us, and I tried to feed it.
I don't think he wanted any more crackers though.
I managed to pet one of the deer! Its fur is pretty rough though.
There are quite a few stalls located along the perimeter of the park, selling snacks and treats (for humans). You gotta be careful when walking around with your food though, because the deer might come for you when they smell the yumminess.
Like what happened to this lady. I think she had sausages on her or something and the deer came runnin'.
There were quite a lot of deer everywhere in the park; but there was definitely more people than deer around at the time.
Luckily, the park itself is pretty huge and spacious, so apart from the main walkway, you'll be spared from the crowds.
We saw a herd of deer, and 2 of them started fighting!
Luckily they didn't have their antlers or it might've been pretty dangerous. Although, I guess that's what animals do in the wild anyway.
We managed to feed a deer that was just lying on the ground.
I knew of them bowing so I decided to try it out!
I fed him first, then I took a bow.
And he actually bowed back! I was so surprised and impressed! What a goodboi 😄
We decided to try taking some selfies, but we didn't tease the deer with food lest he attack us.
Look at him doing a mlem!
We walked through an alleyway of shops with more snacks and souvenirs.
And apparently one of the common snacks they sold here are candy apples! I've only read about them in Peanuts comics so this was the first time I actually saw candy apples irl.
It looked super sweet though, and Sean told me it was so we didn't buy one since I don't really have a sweet tooth anymore.
whatchu lookin' at over deer
The scenery at the park was so beautiful; especially in the early evening sun.
We were at the traffic junction heading to the other side of Nara park when we saw 2 deer in the middle of the road!
Look at the one in the background just being like "yea I stop traffic waddup"
The deer here are pretty sacred so they have the right-of-way; they don't need to give a crap about traffic lights.
Anyway, on the other side was the more foresty area, with even more deer!
And more stalls as well:
I'm sure this is gonna be taken out of context, but we saw a deer biting some trash. For the record, we didn't buy any of the snacks from the stalls and didn't leave any litter in the park. But you know how tourists are.
I'm not apathetic, but you can't control others' behaviour, you just need to set an example. So don't lecture others to not litter (because it doesn't work, trust me), just don't litter yourself.
I can totally see someone using this photo as a cover for an environmental awareness article
Anyway, the sun was setting soon so we decided to start heading back towards the station.
I got this amazing shot of the lake
We took a different way back to the station and came across the famous mochi shop. I'm sure everyone has seen this gif:
Source: giphy.com
I believe that gif is from this very stall in Nara. Unfortunately, we just missed the demonstration!
Pretty sure that's the dude in the gif
After they're done with their pounding (thats what she said), the dough goes into this machine.
We bought 1 to try, and it was really stretchy! I guess it's pretty good for mochi, but I'm not a big mochi fan so it was okay.
After that snack, we walked along and found this souvenir shop that sold star bit candy!
Star bits are collectibles in Super Mario Galaxy, and I heard that they were actually a candy in Japan but I've never seen it until now!
Source: aminoapps.com
We also went into a honey shop that had really delicious fruit honeys!
They had so many flavours, and it tasted sooo good so we bought a few bottles; I think lemon and grape honey.
We got pretty hungry after walking for so long, so we went to get dinner at Coco Curry!
It was a pretty simple meal, but very filling.
On the way back to the station, we found this really cute shop with a character called Space Roku! He's a little cartoon deer and there was all sorts of merch in the store. Turns out it was a business run by a couple, and the wife is the artist! We bought a really cool shirt that looked like this:
I really like this because it's a pun on roku; which is both his name and the Japanese word for the number 6!
Source: tripadvisor.com
We chatted a little bit with them, and told them we were visiting from Singapore! They were really excited and said we should take a picture which we happily obliged!
If you're ever in the area, do drop by and check out their stuff! They're a really nice couple and their store is so cute! #supportlocalartists
At the station, we saw this cute artwork on the stairs! Guess we missed this on our way out.
That's all for today! Sorry for the long post, but thanks so much for reading!
To find out more about me, check out my intro post here!
Posted from my blog with SteemPress : http://tacocat.steemblogs.club/2019/12/13/tacocats-travels-37-japan-ver1-a-very-endeering-experience/
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