Nara in Half a Day: How to Feed the Deer Without Being Chased

Nara is a city you really can see properly in half a day. All the main sights are in the same park and within walking distance of each other, so most people comfortably combine it with Kyoto or Osaka on the same day.

A Half-Day Plan in One Loop

09:00 Enter Nara Park by Kofuku-ji Temple

Start on this side because it is closest to the station and the entrance where the deer are most spread out. The five-storey pagoda of Kofuku-ji is the first photo spot you will reach.

At nine the deer have just woken up and are still hungry, so they approach people more readily than in the afternoon. This is the best time for close-up photos. If you are with young children, you may prefer to come a little later.

09:45 Feeding the Deer

Stalls selling deer crackers are dotted around the park. The crackers are made from rice bran especially for the deer. Never feed them anything else.

One tip that helps a great deal: buy one bundle at a time and finish it before buying another. Hold several bundles at once and you will be surrounded immediately, with deer snatching from your hands.

10:30 Todai-ji and the Great Buddha

This wooden hall was once the largest wooden building in the world. Inside is a bronze Buddha about fifteen metres tall, cast in the eighth century. Photos do not convey its size the way seeing it in person does.

Inside the hall is a wooden pillar with a hole at its base said to be the size of the Great Buddha’s nostril. Crawling through is believed to bring good luck. Children slip through happily; most adults get stuck.

11:45 Kasuga Taisha Shrine

A walk of about twenty minutes up a forest path lined with thousands of stone lanterns, many covered in moss so that they look older than anything else in the city. The shrine itself is vermilion, standing out against the green forest around it.

If your legs have had enough, you can skip this part and the rest of the day still works.

12:45 Lunch in Naramachi

An old district of wooden houses south of the park, a merchant quarter from the Edo period with its buildings still intact. Most of the restaurants and cafes are converted townhouses, and it is far quieter than the park.

14:00 Leave Nara

For the afternoon you can continue to either Kyoto or Osaka, both about an hour from Nara. If you are heading to Kyoto, we suggest the southern side, such as Fushimi Inari, which stays open into the evening.

What to Know About the Deer Before You Go In

• The deer here are wild animals, not zoo animals, and people are butted or bitten and injured every year
• Do not tease them or hold up crackers without giving them; the deer will push and nip at your clothes, and some males have antlers
• Do not feed them anything other than the crackers sold in the park; plastic bags and paper can kill them
• Keep maps, tickets and food out of sight in your bag, as deer can pull paper out of a pocket very quickly
• September to November is the rutting season, when males are more aggressive than usual, so keep extra distance
• Do not let young children hold the crackers themselves; an adult should hold them and pass them over one at a time

Why Deer Walk Freely Through the City

This is not something staged for tourism. The deer were here centuries before Nara became a tourist city. According to tradition, one of the deities of Kasuga Shrine arrived in Nara riding a white deer, so the deer of this area came to be regarded as messengers of the gods and have been protected ever since.

Today the deer are designated a national natural treasure. A foundation looks after their health, and staff cut the males’ antlers every year during the rutting season to reduce accidents. That is why the rules against feeding them the wrong things are genuinely enforced, not just posted on signs.

Something visitors love is that some deer bow their heads before taking a cracker. This is not bowing in the way people imagine. It is a gesture the deer have learned earns them food, a behaviour passed on from one generation to the next.

The best time to go Early April brings cherry blossom to the park, and late October to November puts autumn leaves and deer in the same frame. Both periods are busy, but the views are worth it.

Winter is the quietest time, and the deer approach people most because there is less grass in the park. In summer, avoid the afternoon, as the park is open ground and hotter than you would expect.

Nara is a city where a vehicle clearly helps, because it is a place to stop rather than stay. Most people come for half a day and move on. Having a car means the afternoon is not lost to dragging luggage back to the station for a train.