Nothing Beats Nara: Another Day of Deer and Drinking

Spring Break Day Seven: Nara & Flying Home

After waking up in our Kyoto hotel, we quickly checked out and headed to the train station! Since the closest airport to Kyoto is in Osaka, we figured now was the perfect time to swing by Nara for a day with the deer before our 4 pm flight. After a 45-minute train ride, we arrived in Nara, found a 7/11 for some morning beverages, and headed to the park!

As we neared the park, we could hear small kids screeching with excitement. As we got closer we watched as these thin deer surrounded strangers and bowed their head with the hopes of receiving a bite of deer cookie. I was amazed and humored by the voracity of these deer: they were brutal! Bryan got stared down by a herd of deer and we hadn't even bought cookies yet!

With the sun finally shining, Bryan and I found a sunny bench to sit and watch. And boy did we get a show! Our favorite scene: a 5-year-old antagonizes a deer with a cookie. The deer takes it for about 10 seconds before headbutting this kid in the face and stealing said cookie. Bryan and I couldn't stop laughing! As we sit and watch for more funny encounters, we crack open some fresh chuhais and enjoy the deer performance!

Eventually, Bryan did buy me some deer cookies and we took turns feeding these ravenous creatures! If you ignored one of the seven deer surrounding you, headbutt to the thigh. If you looked at a deer two seconds too long, headbutt to the thigh. If you fed the deer, but they wanted more, headbutt to the thigh.

They also liked to nip at you- Bryan had his thigh bit one too many times- at one point he threw his cookie in another direction just to get free! Bryan captured a picture of a deer trying to bite my jacket! I'm telling you, these deer weren't the tranquil creatures you would think! They are feisty- and it's much funnier to be sipping a chuhai while they headbutt small kids. Being in the middle of it all is a lot!

Enjoy this video clip montage of our deer encounters!

Now we know Nara is famous for its (not-so) friendly deer, but we also learned that Nara was the first-ever established capital of Japan. Prior to Nara becoming the capital in AD 710, the capital of Japan moved to wherever the ruling emperor lived. Nara stayed the capital until AD 784; then the capital moved to Nagaoka. A short 10 years later, the country settled with the capital in Kyoto, which stayed the capital for over 1,000 years! Then in 1868, Tokyo became the capital of Japan and now here we are! Bam: there's the quick history of Japan's capitals.

Knowing this, Bryan and I followed the deer to Todaiji, the Buddhist temple. Todaiji was built in AD 752 as the head temple of all Japanese Buddhist temples. This temple grew so powerful that the country moved the capital from Nara to Nagaoka in 784 in order to lower the temple's influence on government affairs. Talk about separation of church and state!

Eventually, we made our way back to the train station, made it to KIX airport and caught our 4 pm flight back to Fukuoka. We may only have a few pictures of our travel home, it was by far the longest part of our day! After landing at FUK airport, we waited an hour for our city bus to arrive, then endured a 2.5-hour bus ride back to Sasebo, where we then had the 20-minute trek to main base. Once we made it to main base, we got in our car and finally made it home by 10:30 pm. Whew.

I will say, we made the most out of this spring break! From visiting Hiroshima, Miyajima, four days in Kyoto, and a half-day trip to Nara, we filled this week with tons of adventure, new experiences, and lots of historical knowledge from some amazing, historical places.

Just out here living our best lives!

'til next time,

Katie