Nara Park

Nara Park, or Nara Kouen, is unique in that it has a number of very significant religious, cultural, and historical structures all located within a relatively close proximity.  Perhaps the most famous of these structures is the Great Buddha Hall at Todaiji which houses a giant statue of Buddha standing 14.98 meters tall.  Both the hall and the statue are designated national treasures. 

Another, perhaps equally known feature of Nara Park is that it is densely populated by free-roaming Japanese Sika deer (Cervus nippon).  A 2015 study documented a population of 1191 deer living in Nara Park.  And although Nara Prefecture says that the deer are “wild”, for the most part they are unafraid of people and can be seen walking among or at least very near to park visitors.

The tameness of the deer can mainly be attributed to the fact that they have been protected by Imperial decree since the 8^th Century as messengers of the gods at Nara Park’s Kasuga Shrine.

The deer continue to be protected under modern law as Tennen Kinenbutsu (natural monuments), and this thousand-year coexistence has made the deer quite comfortable with having humans at close range.

Another reason why the deer tolerate human presence, and in fact sometimes seek it, is the handouts they receive from park visitors.  Throughout Nara Park, there are vendors hawking shika senbei (“deer crackers” made of rice bran). The crackers are sold in stacks of about 7 or 8 wafers for 150 yen, and feeding shika senbei to the Nara deer has apparently been an activity conducted since the late 1600’s.

The deer are conditioned (perhaps trained?) to wait until a visitor buys the shika senbei.  Deer standing even immediately next to a vending stand will not attempt to eat the shika senbei displayed in the stall.  But once a visitor purchases the senbei and takes a step away from the stall, he becomes fair game as the deer aggressively press forward to beg for their snack.  If visitors are not careful, the deer may also chew up parts of clothes, ribbons, or even long hair.

Despite the frequent snacks of shika senbei, the Nara deer diet consists mainly of the grass and vegetation located within the park.  It is said that each deer eats 5 kilograms of grass per day, and thus Nara Prefecture doesn’t need to spend money on lawnmowers in the park.

The below group of deer was spotted at Mountain Wakakusa at the eastern portion of the park.  One of the shop owners there had spread out a bucket of powdery substance – perhaps ground up rice grain?  So much for the deer being “wild”.

These deer seemed to want to do a little souvenir shopping.

It is said that the male deer in Nara Park live an average life span of 15 years, and females an average of 20 years.  Of the 1191 deer recorded in the 2015 census, 204 were males, 788 females, and 199 were young calves.

The deer have winter coats and summer coats, with the summer coats having the distinctive white spots.  At the time of my visit in March, many of the deer seemed to have been plucking at the fur of their winter coats, leaving them with small bare patches on their backs and sides. 

At the time of my visit, it was hard to immediately distinguish the males from the females because the males did not have their antlers.  Male deer naturally drop their antlers every winter and regrow a new set in the spring, but since the year 1671, it has been traditional practice at Nara to cut the male antlers in the fall before the mating season to prevent deer-human accidents. The deer live in small herds with one male and a number of females. If you are fortunate enough to see one of the larger herds move through the park, it is quite a sight. 

Nara Park deer are not really wild, but since they are not confined, Nara is a great place to get photographs of “wildlife” at close range.

Getting There

Board the Kintetsu Railway at the Kintetsu Namba station (this station is located underground like a subway) in south Osaka and ride the Nara line to the terminal at Kintetsu Nara Station.  (This station is also underground.)  After arriving at Kintetsu Nara, use the stairs to get to street level.  There will be a wide, multi-laned road in front of you running east to west.  Turn to the right and walk along this street in the east direction (the direction that goes slightly upslope), and, within walking about 100 meters, you should start to see parts of the park on the right side of the street.  Once you start seeing grassy areas, you will soon thereafter see the deer.  There is no admission fee to enter the larger park area, but there are entrance fees for each of the Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines. But if you only want to engage the deer, it will only cost you the price of a stack of shika senbei. 

(Note: All photos taken in this post were taken during a visit on March 27, 2016.  The comments in this post are based on observations made on that day.  Conditions may have since changed.  Please check it out for yourself!)

Sea Donuts Aquarium

I visited this unique aquarium after participating in a dolphin watching tour in the Amakusa area of Kumamoto Prefecture.  The “Waku waku Kaichuu Suizokukan Sea Donuts”, is a small floating aquarium that is constructed similar to an ocean-going ship but shaped like a giant swimming donut. 

The inner “donut hole” area serves as the facility’s largest tank.  The featureless interior of this area reminded me of the holding tanks that you see in a seafood restaurant – especially since the fish in this area were mostly of the types that you very often find at fish markets.

The photographs below show the interior of the facility.  The tanks were not particularly large.

This arch-shaped tank contained small goldfish.

Some of the tanks were creatively decorated.

The specimens kept in this collection were for the most part small in size.  Many of the fishes were small enough to fit in a person’s hand.

There were even two touch pools containing starfishes and other invertebrates.

Educational Efforts

Most of the signage in this facility was handmade, and I thought the staff at this aquarium invested a great deal of effort to provide information about the resident creatures.  There were even a number of display signs written in English.

The signs on this wall pertained to various fishes caught and used as food.

Moray eel exhibit with explanatory signage

8 Million Yen Arrowana

Electric eel

Dolphin Pen

After spending the morning riding a boat and viewing wild dolphins free in a vast, open sea, it was quite a contrast to see the relatively small area dedicated to the lone dolphin kept in captivity at this aquarium.  

During high tide, the area available to the dolphin would be about as large as a baseball field.  During low tide, much of the pen is left without any water.  Judging by the waterline on the rocks, it looks like the height difference between tides is about 2 or 3 meters.

At the time of my visit, the aquarium staff was preparing the dolphin for a physical examination.  The blue tarp under the dolphin was used to reduce the depth of the water. 

The dolphin appears to be very valuable to the aquarium, both from an aesthetic point of view and also as a revenue generator.  The facility offers various opportunities for visitors to interact with the dolphin; starting at 500 yen which allows you to touch the dolphin.  The “trainer” experience is available for 2000 yen, and for 3000 yen, visitors can interact with the dolphin on the beach (during high tide, I presume).  I’m sure that the participants in these activities really enjoy their “interaction” with the dolphin.  At the same time, I wonder how the dolphin feels about it. 

Getting There

This facility is located in Kamiamakusa City in Kumamoto Prefecture.  According to a flyer I found at the facility, there is a bus that runs from Kumamoto train station that takes 90 minutes and other shorter bus rides from other lesser known bus stops.  For travelers who possess a driver’s license recognized in Japan, a rental car may be the best mode of travel.  Just make sure you have a car navigation system that you know how to operate.  Tickets for adult visitors were 1300 yen, for intermediate school students 800 yen, elementary school students 500 yen, and small children 400 yen. 

(Note: All photos taken in this post were taken during a visit on February 22, 2016.  The comments in this post are based on observations made on that day.  Conditions may have since changed.  Please check it out for yourself!)