December 26, 2024
We got an early start yet again and jumped on a train for a day trip to Nara. We headed to Nara Park to first meet the deer. They are everywhere!
You can buy a package of deer cookies for 200 Yen. As soon as you have them in your hand, the deer follow you.
The deer are very well behaved, but there are many signs reminding people that they are wild animals; especially the males, who are said to be in mating season right now so “very feisty.” Every October, to protect the deer and the humans in Nara, the male deer have their antlers sawed off as part of a ceremony. As per the tradition in Japan to bow in greeting, these deer also bow (albeit as a form of head butting, thankfully without the antlers). Here is a video of Erez, Kerrie, and Noam bowing to the deer once the deer started bowing. I missed the beginning when the deer initiated, but here are the kids trying to reciprocate.
Our main objective today was to go to Todai-ji.
The largest bronze Buddha statue in the world (standing at 49 ft high and actually made from bronze and copper) is housed in the largest wooden structure in the world. It was originally built in 728 C.E. It was destroyed by fire twice and was rebuilt the second time at two thirds its original size (in width) due to insufficient funding.
One either side of the giant Buddha, there are two other very large, gold-leaf covered buddhas as well.
In the Great Hall there is a support pillar that has a hole in it which is meant to be a shortcut to enlightenment.
“Nothing more than a small, square hole in the base of one of the temple’s great wooden pillars, the so-called “nostril” is said to grant a degree of enlightenment in the next life to any worshipper who can fit through it. The magic hole takes its name from the belief that the tiny tunnel is as large as one of the nostrils on the giant Buddha statue sitting under the same roof. While no one has measured the actual size comparison between the Buddha’s nose and the hole in the column, nor can anyone verify the exact nature of the enlightenment granted by the architectural oddity, yet small-hipped visitors from around the world continue to get down on all fours to seek the wisdom of the Buddha’s nose hole.”
I had fit through this hole on three other occasions- the last one being in 2001. Four kids later, I was not sure I would be able to do it again, but I did it! Everyone in our family of course had to try and we were all successful. It was a tight squeeze though for most of us.
Nara park is home to many temples and shrines as well as a few museums. We found a great restaurant where we could eat some amazing noodle offerings in the park (both udon and soba noodles) as well as some rice bowls. They also had some excellent soft serve ice cream options. I had the yuzu flavoured ice cream 🙂
I was very happy to find a small forest path to explore, getting some quiet time away from the crowds.
Even though there were a lot of visitors, the energy in Nara was very laid back and peaceful.
We ended our time in Nara with some shopping. The kids wanted to buy some deer themed souvenirs, and there was no shortage of options to choose from. We even saw some restaurants offering deer shaped rice in a curry bowl!
Truth be told, the deer merchandising was a little out of control.
There were many interesting things we stumbled across as we were exploring. At one point I went into a McDonalds, not to eat, but to use their facilities. On the second floor, I was surprised to find a mini baby grand piano.
Here are an assortment of other points of interest:
We came home, lit the Chanukah Candles together and ate a bunch of interesting snacks. Around 8pm we went out for dinner. We couldn’t make latkes, so Aubrey and I had fried fish and the kids had Gyukatsu which is basically fried and breaded beef cutlets which they then seared on a small grill pan on the table, heated by a small fuel canister. Happy second night of Chanukah!!
