Deer oh deer oh deer

  Nara, Japan
Wednesday, July 20, 2005

Travel and change of place impart new vigour to the mind
- Seneca

03 Todai-ji Temple

Nara
Together with Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe, Nara is one of the four cities that make up the Kansai region. Before Kyoto became the capital of Japan 794AD this honour was held by Nara, a town some 35km south of Kyoto in an area which prides itself on being the birthplace of Japanese

04 Todai-ji Buddha

culture. The city temples and shrines predate even those in Kyoto but because it is less well-known than its neighbour, it tends to be quieter and more serene. During the seventh and eighth centuries Buddhism became firmly established within Japan under the patronage of court nobles, who sponsored magnificent temples and works of act, many of which have survived to this day. Fortunately, history subsequently left Nara largely to its own devices and it's now a relaxed, attractive place set against a backdrop of wooded hills. Its greatest draw, and the reason we came here, is undoubtedly the monumental bronze Buddha of the Todai-ji temple, itself an attraction as it's touted as the largest wooden building in the world. See the pictures posted here for more information on the statue and the temple itself.

02 Bambi?

01 And where do you think you're going?

The temple is set in a park Nara Park (Nara Koen), a large park established in 1880 and home to hundreds of freely roaming deer. Considered messengers of the gods in Shinto, Nara's deer have become a symbol of the city and have even been designated a National Treasure. Doesn't make them any less hungry and one of the things to do on the way to the temple is to feed the deer. Not that we did; you could get close enough to them without having to feed them.

Echoes of the past

05 Green Tea in our Ryokan room

Many people visit Nara on a day-trip from Kyoto, but we stayed overnight it in a beautiful ryokan set around a lovely garden that in a previous life was a geisha house. What a lovely, traditional place to stay. As I'm typing this in Korea I can say it was easily the nicest place we stayed; and as I have already said the standard of accommodation throughout Japan was awfully high. The place had

06 Breakfast, ryokan style

history oozing out of the walls. As B said to me over a beer in our room, "if only the walls could speak". Indeed.

07 Ryokan garden

Right, I'm off to read Memoirs of a Geisha. See you all on Kobe.