Nara 奈良市

Even though it was a little bit expensive, buying a JR Pass was probably the best thing that we did when planning our trip to Japan. It allowed us 2 weeks of unlimited travel on all JR lines including the Shinkansen and gave us the freedom to use our hotel in Kyoto as home base for nearly a week while taking day trips around the Kansai Region.

One morning after breakfast, my mom and I took the 36-minute Kintetsu Limited Express, a local rail line that runs between Kyoto and Nara. Nara is an ancient city which served as the first permanent capital of Japan from 710 to 784. The rise of a radical new religion called Buddhism, which had just come to Japan from China and was taking hold in Nara, spooked Japan's Shinto establishment, and the capital was moved to Kyoto.

Despite boasting over a thousand years of imperial history and an incredible concentration of UNESCO World Heritage Sites, what makes Nara so popular today with both international and domestic tourists are the herd of Silka deer who roam freely all across the town.

Legend says that the Shinto deity Takemikazuchi-no-Mikoto, the god of thunder and protector of the capital which until Nara’s establishment had moved location with each reign, traveled to Nara to sanctify the new capital. When he arrived, it was on the back of a white deer. From that time on, Silka deer were considered sacred in Nara and harming one was a capital offense.

With Japan’s enforced postwar separation of religion and state, the deer officially lost their sacred status, but they remained protected as a national natural treasure, and locals still treat them with deep respect and reverence.

The deer were everywhere! We didn't have any food on us though, so they didn't pay much attention to Mom and me as we walked through the wide, tree-lined lanes of the quiet old town towards Tōdai-ji, the "Eastern Great Temple".

As we approached the temple, we passed under the gigantic wooden Nandai-mon, the largest temple gate in all of Japan.

The deer seemed to know where they were allowed to walk; perhaps they had an innate spiritual feeling of where they were and were not supposed to go, or maybe they just wanted to be where the people (and thus the food) were.

Either way, it was amazing to see how the deer simply stopped at the temple's gate and did not cross the threshold.

The grand old Buddhist temple was built in the year 738, and the Daibutsu-den (Great Buddha Hall) is still one of the largest all-wooden structures in the world, even though the hall, which was built to replace the one that burned down in the 12th century, is only 2/3 the size of the original.

It remains a towering and imposing sight, and the photos do not do justice to just how large the temple is.

I can't imagine how big the original must have looked. It has always amazed me to think of how people were able to build these great monuments without the use of modern tools or construction techniques.

After purifying ourselves at the temple's fountain, washing first one hand, then the other, then our mouths in the traditional method, we stepped inside the dimly lit interior of the temple's main hall.

Enshrined within is the, the Great Buddha, or Daibutsu, at 16 meters tall is the largest bronze statue in the world. The statue was cast in 752 A.D. under the orders of Emperor Shōmu to commemorate 200 years of Buddhism in Japan.

Modern researchers using x-rays have discovered a treasure trove hidden within the Buddha statue: mirrors, swords, jewels, and human teeth believed to be relics of Emperor Shōmu himself.

Exiting the temple, we stopped at an old wooden shrine dedicated to the monk Binzuru, or Pindola Bharadvaja. Binzuru was one of Buddha's 16 apostles, one of the four Arhats (enlightened or "perfect people") asked by the Buddha to remain in the world, and a master of occult powers.

It is said that if you rub a location on the statue, then rub the corresponding location on your own body, your ailments will disappear. According to legends, Binzuru was once reprimanded by the Buddha for misusing his powers to impress people, but he is today one of the most popular figures in Japanese folk religion.

For lunch, we discovered an excellent little restaurant built inside an old wooden house. We were led upstairs to a cozy attic room covered in comfortable cushions to sit on. We both ordered the curry set, which included a number of small flavorful bites alongside rice and a bowl of Japanese curry. Each ingredient was meant to be good for your health, and a card that came along with the menu explained the benefits of each ingredient. It was one of my top meals in Japan!

As we made our way back to the station, we once again passed through the Nara Deer Park. For 200 yen, visitors can purchase a packet of "deer biscuits", a special type of rice cracker that you can feed to the deer. The deer are very polite and have learned to approach you and bow to request a cracker.

They are polite, that is, until you start running out of food to give them. As Mom finished feeding the deer, a small crowd of them continued to grow around her. They began headbutting her gently, begging for crackers, and one even started nibbling on her shorts for attention. It was pretty hilarious! When the deer realized that she was emptyhanded, they immediately lost interest and moved on to another group of visitors.