Nara: or That Time I Got Bit by a Deer

Nara, like so many places in Japan, is known for its historical importance.  But, unlike anywhere else in the world, it is also known (to me at least) as the place I got bit by a deer.

When I first arrived in Nara, which was a really short train ride from Kyoto, I kept seeing signs saying that 2010 was Nara’s 1300th anniversary as an imperial capital.  It took my Americanized brain a moment to realize that the signs weren’t talking about the 130th anniversary, but way more impressive- the 1,300th year anniversary.

Nara is a great little town with tons of historical significance, great temples, and of course- tons of deer. Seriously, these things are everywhere!

I had been to a lot of temples already on my trip, so I was feeling slightly burned out them, so while in Nara, the thing I wanted to see most were the deer.   The deer are one of the biggest draws, if not the biggest draw to come to Nara.  Since they were considered holy animals they roam free within the park, as they have done for generations. Because of the years of special treatment, the deer aren’t afraid of people. Who wouldn’t want to spend a day snuggling with deer? or is that just me?

Throughout the park, they sell special ‘deer cookies’ to feed the deer.  They’re made with ingredients that are healthy for the deer so people don’t end up feeding them green tea ice cream (I ate a ton of green tea ice cream in Japan, I’m kind of obsessed).   I also learned that they yearly trim their horns ‘for safety’, although it wasn’t clear, I assume it’s for the safety of the guests since those antlers are hard.

To and from the Todai-ji temple, I ended up buying three packs of ‘deer cookies’ to feed the deer.  I mean I figure, when else do I get to hang out with deer who will stalk you for snacks.   At one point I saw a girl running from a whole group of deer because she had an entire bag full of deer cookies.  The deer kept pursuing her.  The deer really like these cookies.

There was also this little boy and a deer who kept following him in order to try to get the kid’s last cookie.

Other than the biting part, feeding the deer was pretty awesome.  It was funny to have all these animals crowd around you demanding food.  It actually felt a lot like teaching kindergarten- hence the bout of ‘teacher face’ I am suffering from in the picture above.  You can almost hear me saying ‘Okay, now everyone needs to share’. 

One of the first things I told my friend Annie about my trip, she has also been to Japan (and Nara) before, was that I got bit by a deer.  In typical Annie fashion, she laughed and replied “of course you did”.  Seriously, if anyone is going to get bit by the notoriously tame deer, it’s me.

Alright so here’s how it happened:  I had bought my second round of deer cookies and was walking down the main street toward the temple.  I had put my camera away because I was trying to be more in the moment (something I made an effort to do throughout the trip) so there are no pictures of the guilty deer.  There was one deer following me, I’d give him a piece of cookie and continue walking down the street.  Essentially I was walking a deer down the street, and it was pretty awesome.  I felt a bit like Elliott in E.T. with the Reese’s Pieces.  All was fine and well until a second deer falls into step and wants some food too.  This causes me to stop so I can feed both of them.  Apparently, I was not going fast enough for my new dinner guest, because he decided to nip me on the leg.  I was more shocked than anything, the bite thankfully didn’t break the skin, or tear my clothes, but I did get a bruise to remember him by.  Sadly, I have received no noticeable super powers from this bite, maybe the deer wasn’t radioactive.  If something does develop, I would like my super heroine’s name to be Tae Kwon Doe.

I learned that feeding deer is a lot like teaching little kids, you need to make sure you have enough for everyone, and that they all get the same amount, or someone is going to get upset… and maybe bite you.  But even when some of them are bratty, most of them are still pretty cute.

From Busan with Fawning Love,
Jenna

 


Filed under: adventure, Japan, nature, teaching, travel

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