Nara, deer and shrines

After a long day in wet weather, the forecast was in our favor so we decided to rest up a bit before taking the 35 minute rapid train to nearby Nara. Unfortunately, we didn’t realize it was on it’s own line in it’s own separate area of the station that required purchase of separate tickets (for every train we have been on, we have been tapping our SUICA transport cards which we were able to reload with our phones (we even loaded the Shinkansen tickets onto them). But when following signs for the ‘Nara’ line we (along with help from ChatGPT) finally realized that it was a totally separate line… and on the opposite side of the terminal. After missing our intended train, we finally found the area and purchased the necessary tickets before a pleasant ride. Again surprised by the number of cherry blossom trees along parks, waterways and even in random neighborhoods. After arriving, we made our way to the first temple in Nara Park. The first thing we stumbled upon was a small group of the popular Nark Park deer. They were everywhere! Their claim to fame is that, if you offer to feed them a deer ‘cracker’, they would bow to you before accepting. No matter how many times we did it, it didn’t stop being awesome. They were so funny and would chase you a little if they knew you had one. Unfortunately, this resulted in Hudson and Jocelyn getting bitten and, later on, a minor goring injury for Hudson after a rowdy young buck pushed him against a tree after his cracker didn’t seem to be enough. Anyway, the first impressive shrine we visited was Kofuku-ji Temple (with goshuin stamps). It was very beautiful and peaceful among the crowds in Nara Park; unfortunately the adjacent famous 5 story pagoda is closed from 2022-2034 for renovations so it was wrapped in an enormous construction structure. From Kofuku-ji, we had a quick bite to eat at some food trucks (sausages and Udon) while the deer behind us took a break. It was then on to the most impressive temple we have yet to see.

Todai-ji was spectacular, the building was first built and designated in 749 to celebrate the awakening of Buddha. It burned down several times, and was rebuilt several times, most recently in 1709. The gates and grounds were incredible, the building was huge compared to every other temple that we had seen before (or since). Upon entering The Great Buddha Hall you caught the first glimpse of the bronze Buddha, and it was stunning! So much bigger than the pictures show, it is apparently the largest gilded Buddha in the world (and nearly bankrupted Japan was it was built with over 2.5M workers) it is housed in the tallest wooden building in the world as well. We just sat inside and admired it for a while. Reminded me of David a bit given it’s scale. As we left, we had the unfortunate run-in with the ‘goring’ deer before making the short walk to the nearby Kasuga Taisa - Lantern Shrine. Surrounded by 3000 stone and bronze statutes and set back in the woods, we wandered around the shrine and had the goshuins stamped but elected not to go in as we made our way back to the train. On the way, we found a wonderful knife store and found two more souvenirs to bring home before catching the rapid train back to Kyoto. We stopped at the Itoya in Kyoto Station to make up for the supplies we had to leave behind in Tokyo and did some light shopping before dinner at the food hall in Kyoto Tower - Wagyu burgers and sirloin (and Tige’s had both). It was a relaxing and fun end to the evening before another late bedtime.Read more