While building out our trip to Japan, Nara was on the list for the lovable-looking deer Nara is famous for. These hungry deer have been recorded in Nara going back 1200 years and are waiting to bow to you for food! Also, while we were in Nara, we walked around and got lost several times in its winding streets, but fear not, our travel led us to a Sake brewery as well.
Japan is entirely connected by rail, which makes traversing the country a breeze. Our tips and tricks articles cover the JR Rail Pass in greater detail. From Osaka, Japan, Nara is a short 50-minute ride by rail. Upon arriving at the Kintetsu-Nara Station, you have a short walk to Nara Park, where the deer live. On the way to the park, you will encounter deer while walking.
To feed the deer, vendors all over the place sell packs of biscuits for them. When we visited, the cost was 200 Japanese Yen. Also, there are instructions on how to feed them.
Below you can see a video where I entertained a party. Watch as these deer get my attention; one of them even tugged my shirt for attention if you notice that deer also ate the most!
While feeding the deer, we ventured to Tōdai-ji (東大寺), Which houses the largest bronze statue of Buddha in the world! You will see several pictures of the figure, but Buddha is a very dark color that is hard to capture, but make no mistake that the statue’s presence is felt inside the temple at all times.
Speaking of the temple itself, the size of the building that houses the Buddha is massive. A picture cannot show you the proportion of people in the building. We enjoyed our time at this temple, but it was time to start our way back to the train station the long way.
We decided to go off the beaten path and head towards Harushika Sake Brewery. This sake brewery offers tastings which we found to be a great experience while spending our day in Nara. I mean, come on, we did a sake tasting in Japan. What else sounds better than that?
From Harushika Sake Brewery, we wound our way back to the train station area to try a local beer brewery named Yamato Brewery, which offers locally created craft beer. Also, we ordered food there, which included a pizza with an egg on it; hey, don’t knock it until you try it.
The pizza was Neapolitan style with prosciutto and egg! This excellent-tasting pizza paired deliciously with their hop-forward IPA. The beer, chicken wings, and potato salad all were delicious! All of their beers were very tasty indeed and highly recommended.
That is it for our day trip to Nara, Japan. We highly suggest adding this to your list if you plan on going to Osaka, Kyoto, Kobe, or even Hiroshima. The deer experience alone is worth the effort, and also Nara has a small-town feel to it, which you will only feel if you leave Tokyo or Osaka. Will you be going to Nara? Let us know in the comments. The rest of the article is just a photo dump. Enjoy!
unique & lovely pictures.
Thanks!!