Nara Park, Nara

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Nara Park is a 5 minute walk from the Kintetsu Nara train station. Fun for children to experience deer up close - but not all the deer are gentle. Enjoy their presence but be ready for that occasional nudge or headbutt. The deer are considered National Treasure and are protected as such.

Nara Park and Miyajima are probably Japan's most famous places to see, pet, and feed deer! The park itself is rather ordinary and unspectacular (not counting all of the historical sites that surround it!), yet because of all the deer, many visitors consider it a "must-see" place in Japan.

The deer roam around the park freely; there are no pens or gates to keep them in or out, so they sometimes cause problems for drivers when they walk out onto the road, but for visitors it is fun to see deer so tame! It is fun to purchase some deer senbei (often called "deer cookies") for 100 yen to feed the deer. Overall, the park is cheap fun and its right in the middle of all the attractions, so its certainly worth at least a walk-through!

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A huge wasteland area was transformed into a park in 1880 and was designated as a scenic spot in 1922. In this park, you can visit UNESCO World Heritage sites such as Kofukuji Temple, Todaiji Temple and Kasuga Taisha Shrine. Nara Park is home to hundreds of freely roaming deer. Nara's deer, considered messengers of the gods in Shinto, has become a symbol of the city. The tame deers can be easily approached and fed. This is one of the best chances to get that much close and pet these lovely creatures.

The Nara National Museum was cool in several ways. Most importantly, it is air conditioned -- a critical attraction on a humid August afternoon -- Japanese humid where you sweat with every step, no matter how relaxed! But it also has an amazing collection of Buddhist art from the Nara era spanning 14 centuries. Almost every object, grand or small, was labeled a "National Treasure" or "Important Cultural Artifact". Regardless of labels, most of the works were impressive for their age (especiall the 1300-year-old wooden objects) or their evocative beauty. My favorite piece didn't have any of the two labels. It was a wooden carving of a warrior monk from the 13th century -- besides his fiery eyes, he had a clenched right fist but a left hand poised for peace, with two upright fingers offering a buddhist blessing. This oxymoronic work was both startling and beautiful at the same time.
Also interesting is to watch the art as it evolves from a wholesale copy of Tang Chinese and Baekju Korean work into something that is uniquely Japanese. If you don't think you'll notice this evolution yourself (I wouldn't have!) there are signs to help you along.
The collection is not large -- you snake through about 10 rooms in one hour, even when you take time to admire the work -- but it is very chock full of wonderful work.
You are not allowed to take photos in the museum.

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Nara-Koen park is the center of every visit to the ancient capital. Rolling and occassionally wooded, this park is laced with footpaths, streams and ponds and, of course, Nara's famous sacred deer. At the edges are many of the historic shrines and temples from Nara's golden age (710-790) and within the park is the Nara National Museum. Often, all these sites cause people to race through the green space to get to one end or the other, but the park is worth appreciating too. It's trees, its rivulets, its vendors of one sort or another make it an oasis of peace in a generally urbanized country. In a place where land prices are astronomical, urban open space like this needs to be cherished.

Nara is a place we really had a great time. Those deers really added so much to being just a tourists of a city, it made our time fly. The day was so cloudy and started raining and it kept raining all day till the following day, although that did not stop us from visiting Nara Park, the beautiful temples in Nara and have a great time.

If you are going to Nara, it is a good idea to experience the "wild" deer. After all, they are very hard to miss! There are places that sell cookies to feed them, which will cause many deer to come to you! It is very fun, and a good experience. It also provides good pictures! Nara is the only place that I went to where I saw these "wild" deer everywhere, so if you are going to Nara, devote some time to experience this. It is a very unique thing!

Nara Park is home to many tame deer. Visitors can buy 'senbei' (crackers) at about JPY 150 per bundle and feed it to the deer. These cute critters have very sharp eyes; they know a senbei bundle when they see one. So be ready and do not panic when they start to crowd around you and try to get you to feed them. Make sure you have enough, as they really get competitive with each other.

I thought they looked cute but when one bit my leg, I changed my mind about them. Mind you, the bite really hurt!