Nara

In central Japan there is an amazing city called Nara. The city has many palaces, museums, parks, temples, many of which were built at the time when the capital of Japan was located here.

Naru was built on the model of Chanan, then the capital of the Chinese state. Here the foundation of the Japanese state was laid by the first emperor of Japan - Jimma, who, according to legend, went down from heaven on a deer. Since then, deer are very revered in the city, because they are considered descendants of the sacred deer of the emperor. The city itself was built due to the fact that the Feng Shui teachers decided that the then capital of Fujikar was not built on the feng shui and in 708 decided to build a new capital. Thus, from 710 to 784, the city was the capital of Japan. Nara was booming until 784, until the capital was moved to Nagaoka-kyo. In the Middle Ages, rebellious princes began to gather here with their samurai, as well as monks in numerous Buddhist temples. In the 20th century, due to tourism, the city received a new round of development.

Tourists are attracted by the spirit of old Japan, numerous temples and almost tame deer. Among the buildings, it is worth noting the oldest pagoda in the world, the Great Buddha Hall, the Tosedai-ji and Yakusi-ji temples, Shinto Kumirni. In Nara Park you can find numerous herds of deer, and in general there are a lot of them in the city. Guides claim that there are about 2,000 spotted deer in the city who are not afraid of anything and always beg for lacquering from tourists. The deer grass is almost eaten, as residents and tourists spoiled them and fed them with special deer cookies, which are sold everywhere in the city. Therefore, quite usually you can see a cheeky deer poking a face in a person in the hope of getting a cookie. The deer feel free here, they are forbidden to wake, even if they fell asleep on a busy motorway. Every year in October, deer are dedicated to the Sika-no-tsunokiri holiday, during which horns are sawed off to all deer, as they can hurt themselves and the inhabitants.

Since 1892, the tradition of feeding deer in the winter has been established, when there is little feed. A musician is convened on their meal by the mountain musician, playing Beethoven’s 6th symphony. This tradition was interrupted only during the Second World War and was already restored in 1949. Near the deer park is the Todai-ji temple, built back in 725. Within its walls is a 16-meter statue of the Great Buddha, which cannot be photographed.

You can get to the city from Kyoto in just half an hour by train. Like Kyoto, the city of Nara is part of a program to visit Japanese high and middle school graduates.