Nara is the capital city of Nara Prefecture, which is to the east of Osaka and south of Kyoto. As one of the notable cities in the Kansai region, I knew I wanted to visit.

To get to Nara, I rode the JR Line up to Kyoto and took an express route from there, a 30 minute ride that passed through rural Japanese countryside and neighborhoods. Once I got there, I immediately noticed the parks full of deer. Nara is probably most well known among tourists because of the large number of sika deer that live in the city. The deer have formed their natural habitats within and around the city, and they are used to help promote tourism in multiple ways- there are advertisments featuring the deer, merchandise such as T-shirts and keychains, and festivals surrounding the deer. They are well-adjusted to the environment as well. For example, they accept senbei rice crackers from street vendors when fed, and are able to cross the busy streets around the temples. Make sure to consider when you visit, however- I went in September, during their mating season, so the male deer were more hormonal and aggressive. During one funny moment in the evening, a group of deer tried to swarm me as I left Todai-ji, one of the temples in the area which I'll go into more detail on in a later article. Overall, it was a really amazing experience being able to visit the city, and I doubt I'll ever be able to get such a close experience with deer outside of Nara.