There are many things both old and new to be seen when wandering Nara, Japan. I particularly liked the gardens and temples. But oddest of all are the tame deer wandering everywhere. These are not like our deer, they are Cervus nippon, a long-haired species.
Isuien Garden © Harold Davis
The icon-based signs warn tourists in Japanese and pictures that the deer are wild animals. They may butt, bite, and are unpredictable. This wildness is questionable—the deer are subsidized, and largely subsist on “deer cakes” purchased by visitors. I don’t doubt they are capable of taking a nip out of one, but this doesn’t inhibit anyone from trying to get a photo with their little one astride—or kissing—a deer.
Garden Wall, Nara, Japan © Harold Davis
I don’t get the sense that these deer are the sharpest animals in the animal toolkit. Maybe that is what millennia of partial domesticity does for you. They seem to amble around all over the place, for the most part amiably, pooping and trying to schnorr from visitors anytime they see anything they think might be edible. Trust me, deers, my camera is not food!
2 Trackbacks
[…] Kayoko at the Sakuraya Guesthouse in Nara had helped me figure out my transportation logistics, she saw the Nankai Ferry ticket in the […]
[…] you’ve ever visited Japan’s ancient imperial capital of Nara, you’ll know that the deer of Nara are a big touristic deal—which is why they are portrayed in the attractive design on the manhole cover that I found on […]