Nara also happens to be home to over 1200 wild (but very friendly and very very greedy) sika deer. They are free to roam about the park, the streets and even in some of the temples - we stumbled upon a little musical festival going on and it was very surreal to see wild deer casually weaving through the crowd. You can buy special "deer cookies" from street vendors to feed them; I chose to visit Nara on my birthday which meant I had an excuse to buy about 50 cookies and spend a long time running around with excitement. I absolutely loved this bit of the day, it felt really special to be able to get so close to a wild animal without the animal being trapped or forced into it (just coerced with a lot of food...). Deers are considered sacred messengers in Shintō belief, and today they have 'national treasure' status in Nara. You can tell that some of the shop owners don't consider the ones wandering into their shops a treasure, but all in all I think the animals have a pretty sweet deal here.
The deer are also known for being able to "bow" back to a human when they want food, so that provided a lot of entertainment. I did Google afterwards and apparently the bowing motion is normally to assert dominance or prepare to headbutt.. I'm not sure whether this is what the deer in Nara were saying or if they've just learnt how to please us silly humans to get what they want. Either way, it was really lovely and exactly how I wanted to spend my 21st.
After walking through the park for a while we found Tōdai-ji temple, which is famous for housing an absolutely HUGE statue of the Buddha (Daibutsu/大仏殿). Apparently it's 15 metres tall and weighs around 500 tonnes. I wish I had a photo which could do any sort of of justice to this incredible statue but it really is something that you have to see in person to appreciate. Even though I'm not religious, I still get that strong sense of *I don't quite know what* when I'm at a really impressive religious site and I can totally understand why something like this would have meant/still means so much to people. Inside the building, one of the pillars has a hole in it which is only just big enough for a human to crawl through. It looked terrifying and claustrophobic so I didn't do it, but apparently it's 'exactly the same size as one of the Great Buddha's nostrils' and if you can crawl through then you're guaranteed enlightenment (...), so I guess I'll have to go back!
Anyway, Tōdai-ji itself was absolutely gorgeous. I like the little gold horns on top of the main building, which are a very Chinese influence. I particularly loved the statue of Binzuru Sonja which sat outside - if you have an illness or injury then the custom is to rub that part of his body and then your own for healing. He wears a red raincoat and I can't find out why online... I assume to protect him from the wind and rain? Either way, it gives him a lot of character.
Going to Tōdai-ji has made me really want to learn more about religion in Japan. There are so many little details in all the temples and shrines that I wish I understood and knew the background behind so that I could fully appreciate them. Hopefully I'll get to do at least one module about it this term and can go a bit more into depth about some of the things I'm seeing. There were a few more bits that we got up to on my birthday, but rather than rambling for too long I think I'll just leave with this photo of the amaaaazing ramen we ate for dinner:
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