Feeding Deers in Nara Park, Japan

One of the places I was most excited to visit in Japan was Nara Park - a public park full of wild deer that bow to tourists for senbei.

I had read several stories that said the deers can get violent and nip you and bite your clothes if they see you holding senbei (they really love that stuff). No problem, I thought, I’ll just find a quiet area in the park with only a few deer. Plus - the deers always looked so graceful and timid on Instagram. 

For the most part, the deers leave you alone if you don’t have any senbei but as soon as you buy a pack, prepare to be swarmed. I can’t remember the exact price but it wasn’t expensive at all and was around a few dollars for a generous stack (we bought 3).

The park is quite large, so while there is the main area, where most of the deers and tourists are, you’re better off buying senbei where you can find it, hide it, and find a quieter area with less deers and people. After being bitten, rammed and chased for about 5 minutes, we took our last pack and headed back to where we entered to feed some much more gentle deer on their own. I was also terrified that the deers would bite my fingers but even the aggressive deer were really gentle with the senbei (no need to throw it at them in a panic like I did). 

The park itself is beautiful to explore - you could easily spend at least half a day here. I’d love to come back and explore for longer next time as there is so much to do and see. There are a few temples nearby and even a mountain trail if you’re up for a hike - we visited Kōfuki-ji which was on the way to the park and free to enter!

As mentioned in my previous blog post about things to do in Kyoto, there is a Gyudon place called Matsuya near JR Nara station (about 10 minute walk) that was absolutely delicious and worth a short detour for lunch (or breakfast for us) on the way to the park. It’s a chain which is probably standard in terms of taste for locals, but it was one of the most delicious meals that I had in Japan and it was only around $5 for the basic Gyudon set (did I mention they have unlimited green tea on tap?).

 

Location of Matsuya

Had so much with the pictures and lettering for this post, and I hope the information was useful! We caught the train from JR Kyoto to JR Nara station (so all costs covered with our JR pass) and walked to the park from there. There are closer stations if you prefer to skip the walk and don’t mind paying a little bit, but it was a lovely walk past lots of shops.

jess x

Find me on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter + Bloglovin'.