Rodney Campbell's Blog

It isn’t very long before you have your first encounter with Nara’s famous deer. According to the legendary history of Kasuga Shrine, a mythological god Takemikazuchi arrived in Nara on a white deer to guard the newly built capital of Heijō-kyō. Since then they have been regarded as heavenly animals, protecting the city and the country.

Wandering

NIKON D750 + 28.0-300.0 mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 72 mm, 1/80 sec at f/6.3, ISO 100

Nara Deer

NIKON D750 + 28.0-300.0 mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 105 mm, 1/125 sec at f/5.6, ISO 560

Note: These photographs (especially the wider shots) look much better when larger. To see larger versions in an inline overlay slideshow gallery viewer click any of the images.

The sika deer (also known as spotted or Japanese deer) freely roam through the town, especially in Nara Park.

They are surprisingly tame, although they can be aggressive if they think you will feed them. Crackers specifically designed to feed the animals are for sale around the park and once they know you have them all is lost :).

Grazing

NIKON D750 + 28.0-300.0 mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 85 mm, 1/100 sec at f/5.6, ISO 320

My youngest daughter gave up immediately when she’d been handed some crackers. She was instantly mobbed and threw the crackers in the air whilst running away :). My middle daughter was better able to control the flow of broken up crackers to all those hungry mouths. Well some of the time at least :). Being taller probably helps :).

Demanding

NIKON D750 + 28.0-300.0 mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 82 mm, 1/100 sec at f/5.6, ISO 360

Killing one of these sacred deer was a capital offense, punishable by death up until 1637, the last recorded date of a breach of that law.

After World War II, the deer were officially stripped of their sacred/divine status, and were instead designated as national treasures and are protected as such.

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