The word of the day is…. Deer!

If you’ve been to this place, you can probably already tell from the title where I spent my last day of Silver Week. Mayu, my conversation partner from back at Alabama, took me to Nara, which is a little ways to the southeast of Osaka.

Nara, which was Japan’s first capital, is a place full of temples, many of which are World Heritage Sites. However, the town is also full of deer. According to my guidebook, there are 1,200 of them in Nara. In pre-Buddhist times, they were seen as messengers of the gods, and even now they are considered National Treasures. I found out that if we had gone a week or two later, sometime in October, we would have been able to see the annual antler cutting festival. …I might have to go back for this. I haven’t decided yet.

But more on deer later. After the long train ride to Nara, we sleepily headed up the stairs from the station to a quaint little town, with trees bordering the road and little mom and pop souvenir shops and restaurants. Walking a little way, we arrived at Kofuku-ji temple. (Random note: “ji” means temple, so it’s a little redundant to say Kofuku-ji temple. Or Kinkaku-ji temple. Temple temple.)

Kofuku-ji is home to two pagodas, one three stories and one five stories, which is the second tallest in Japan. Evidently the one I visited in Toji with the flea market beats it out by just a few centimeters.

There is also a National Treasure Hall at Kofuku-ji with several statues. Many of the temples I’ve been to have these, and in most you aren’t allowed to take pictures inside. It looks pretty big from the outside. (By the way, the print on the curtains on the door is… you guessed it! Deer!)

After Kofuku-ji, we walked about a kilometer to Todai-ji, which I was looking forward to. It houses one of the largest enclosed Buddhas in the world, and is also one of the largest bronze statues in the world. And… the building that it is in is THE largest wooden building in the world, rebuilt in 1709. I had no idea wood could last that long! On the walk there, I saw probably around 35 deer, cars stopping for deer crossing the road, a deer walking in to a souvenir shop (lunch time maybe?), a lady head-butted by a deer and several children feeding deer and subsequently running away from them screaming when 10 more showed up.

Back to Todai-ji; here is the entrance gate:

And the Daibutsu-den itself:

The grounds were immaculate on the walk to the hall. The grass was perfectly green and smooth. When we reached the gate, a large group of tourists (gaijin and Japanese) taking pictures were barring our way, so we stood by the incense burner for a little while before forcing our way in. Their incense can be a little strong sometimes….

And there he was! The huge Buddha, towering 16 meters over my head among his array of offerings and his golden throne (which had mini-pictures of himself all around it[?]).

The images of Buddha in Japan are always ridiculously intricate. This Buddha, like most, is sitting on a lotus flower. Each petal looks like this:

I was in awe of how long it probably took them to make all of this.

After snapping quite a few pictures, we headed out to find somewhere to get a drink. Hey, look! A deer!

I thought this was funny because he’s sitting next to a little stone that has “telephone” carved on it. There were no telephones nearby…

The walkway is beautiful through the park.

We found a huge bell, which Mayu told me they only ring at New Year’s. We tried, but the pole hanging next to it was chained down.

Next down the path was Kasuga Taisha, which is known for its lanterns. People go to this temple to wish/pray for long life. While we were there, there was some sort of martial arts testing going on.

After this, we finally found an adorable thatched-roof tea house where we could get a drink. Mayu ordered matcha for us. It’s really healthy, and doesn’t taste as green as it looks. Next to it is a little block of red bean paste/jelly as a little bit of sweetness to offset the bitter tea.

So, I’ve shown you a couple of pictures of deer already, and I’m sure you’re wondering how close they get, right? Well… this close!

His nose was in front of the camera when I started to take the picture and then he kept moving toward me!

These guys were hanging around too:

By this time, I was ready to gather up my courage and feed them. I paid 150 yen for a bundle of “sembe” and headed off to feed a guy all by himself.

After giving him a couple, I told him goodbye and headed off to find one of his cousins.

But wouldn’t you know it? The first little guy was still hungry and followed me over.

Feeding the deer was awesome fun. Coming from America, it’s something I never thought I would be able to do. I even pet one on the head, though he was a little more interested in the cookie in my hand.

Our last stop was Gango-ji, which for some reason my guidebook says isn’t really worth a visit. I thought it had a beautiful garden.

With that, we headed back home. Before I knew it, Silver Week was over. I had to go back to class… although only for two days and then another weekend! I was already excited for the next weekend because I was going on a class field trip to Asuka!