On the way from Osaka to Kyoto, we stopped in Nara. Nara is popular for the wild deer that will bow to you in return for deer crackers. It also has a really large Shinto Temple and a large Buddahist Temple. Nara reminded me of San Francisco, this is why.
Getting to Nara
Getting to Nara, we took a train from Kyoto to Nara. It was a fairly direct route, but we kept having to deboard and board a new train since we did not take a direct route and first hit a city line and then a line that stopped a couple stops before Nara.
Once there, we put our bags in a couple coin lockers and set about grabbing a quick breakfast in the station. From there, we went to find the bowing deer.
The Tenderloin
A few blocks from the station is a large park that the deer are in. They’re kind of all over the city, but they largely are in the park. Tne whole day kept bringing back memories of San Francisco and especially the Tenderloin area of it. I’d like to say that first, I really liked the Tenderloin and staying there was probably my favorite trip to San Francisco.
However, like the Tenderloin, you seem to be always dodging shit on the sidewalk. Not a little bit, but everywhere. It was the first thing I noticed and it immediately brought back walking around in San Francisco and navigating around piles of feces.
Like the Tenderloin, you are constantly being hit up for something. In this case, the deer really want you to feed them. They bow to you to get your attention.
Like the Tenderloin, they can get aggressive about it too. Having a deer nip at you for food or trying to get in your way was commonplace. They would get in each other’s way or start head butting one another to get priority for food.
Bobu
There was a single deer that just mystified us. We dubbed him Bobu. Bobu originally was a bit away from a group and a friend started to feed him. When she stopped, he started to nip at her a bit.
When she walked away, he started to acost another tourist with a fist full of deer crackers. As that person turned away, Bobu rammed him with his head. We were deftly amused. In short order, a family walked up and started to feed Bobu. Again, when they stopped, Bobu headbutted their kid and sent her lurching back a few feet. Immediately, the kid stated “That one is mean” and refused to feed any more deer.
Over the course of the next half hour, we watched Bobu be aggressive with other deer treading on his space. He also headbutted, well really rammed, several other people including a few who dared to stop feeding him crackers and turn their backs. A guy happened to catch some ire for simply walking near Bobu. In all, a good half dozen people were subject to Bobu’s fury as we sat on a guard rail and watched.
Temples
After watching Bobu, we wandered through the temples in Nara. There is a big series of Buddahist temples that were impressive and a Shinto temple further in the park. That seems to be the one that was used in the film Lost in Translation. There, there was a series of lanterns representing all of the other Shinto temples in Japan. As we went along the path we started to pick out which ones we thought were indicative of shrines we had already visited. Between the lanterns there were occassionally bowing deer performing for crackers.
The temple was really impressive. We paid the fare to get to explore inside and happened upon a wedding that was taking place. It was pretty and everyone looked great. We also went in a room that was lit up lanterns of varying designs that was really impressive. Overall, this was one of my favorite temples we got to visit in our trip to Japan. It was the most unlike the Tenderloin of all of Nara.
Overall Thoughts
I like the Tenderloin. It’s exciting and you never know what will happen. Nara and it’s deer were pretty amusing as well. I liked it too. I don’t know that I would make a huge effort to go back, but I am glad I went.
