I have had my own share of travelling experiences but never did I come across a city or a small town as unique as Nara. Yes, I am not at all exaggerating. It is simply beyond anyone's imagination of a small city. Well to start with; you will end up walking besides herds of deers around. This has been the most amazing thing I have ever seen while exploring any small town.
One fascinating habit of these deers is they know how to greet people in Japanese way! Yes, you read that right. Have you seen how Japanese greet each other? They bow down while meeting someone and the deers do the same. You can try it for yourself, just go and stand in front of a deer and just bow down. Deer will treat you the same way.
Nara has specific signs and symbols all around the city dedicated to deers. You will notice some warning signs on highways mentioning 'deers might cross the road so drive slowly'. That gives you an idea that deers are an integral part of the daily lives of locals. Locals are well aware of their existence and give them enough privacy and space.
I personally observed that locals mind their own business while roaming around and don't get bothered by the walking deers around. Best part about the deers of Nara is they are well mannered (most of the times!). Obviously, since we are talking about animal, sometimes they can be a bit unpredictable. Not that I have personally seen a strange behaviour of theirs but usually the tourists tend to bring the bad side of deers.
Since, most of the tourists don't know the right protocols when it comes to dealing with deers; they provoke wrong reaction from them. For instance, usually there are these street vendors selling some cookies and snacks for deers which lots of tourists like to buy and feed them to deers!
It is a nice gesture but what tourists don't understand is giving cookies to deers make them vulnerable and these deers get aggressive once you feed them. When I was spending Christmas holidays in Nara back in 2019, I had personally seen some tourists getting attacked by these cute deers after they were fed by them in the beginning.
Deers becomes aggressive expecting that you will continue feeding them once you start doing it. It is their basic communication protocol with people. Locals know all these things hence they don't get involved in such feeding shenanigans.
I haven't seen a wild animal like deer living so close to a human society. Nara has a dedicated deer park where they relax in their natural habitat. Best way to get a glimpse of them for sure.
Whenever you are walking to any local shrine or attraction, you will be welcomed by deers along the way. If you are scared of wild animals then you might want to walk outside having a company than going alone. It might be overwhelming for first timers! I was also kind of intimidated by them in the beginning but later realised they are friendly animals if you showcase right behaviour in front of them.
Having said that, some people won't like the sight of deers since most of them look dirty and filthy at times. They are not hygienic animals and tend to make the places dirty around them.
Like I said before, it was indeed a unique experience for me to get so close to these lovely animals; however, hygiene factor made it little bit annoying for me in the end. Having said that, I would say that you should also experience it at least once whenever you are planning to visit Japan. You won't have a similar surrounding anywhere else globally (including rest of Japan too!); so do try it once.
Hope you liked this blogpost giving you a glimpse of what to expect in Nara. Do share your own thoughts if you have already been there or planning to visit soon. Happy travelling!
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