Nara Adventure

Yayyy it's Golden Week! Golden Week is a series of national holidays that are closely dated together in Japan. Workers often string a couple vacation days in between to make a continuous one week holiday. Lucky for me, the school is closed for the whole duration so I naturally get the whole week off!

In addition to some much needed rest and relaxation, I want to explore a little more of Japan this week. So today, I decided to head over to the city of Nara, located about an hour away via train from Osaka. It was once upon a time the capital city of Japan, so it's an interesting and old city to explore. I found an easy and not too strenuous walking tour to follow, and set out for a day adventure!

The walking tour led me to Nara-koen, a large park that contains a handful of temples and shrines that are surrounded by peaceful woods. Nara-koen is also home to a LARGE population of deer, which I completely underestimated upon my arrival.

When I arrived in Nara, I saw a deer behind a fence. Oh cool, I thought.
I hurried over to take a picture. Little did I know...

Hmmmm. Warnings...?

And so I sat down on an empty bench to eat my lunch (rice balls from 7-11, of course) before heading up to the temples and shrines. I'm just sitting there, enjoying the scenery, when I feel a surprising nuzzle on my back. Aaaarrrrrghhhh! I jumped up to see this behind me:

Up close and personal!

They have no fear!!! After this one decided that I had no food on me, a male deer walked up too and stuck his head inside my backpack. When I took that away, he looked at me with an almost-contemptuous look and peed (luckily on the ground, not on any of my possessions)!

After that hilarious but not-appetizing scenario, I continued walking up towards the temples and shrines area. Along the way, there were various carts selling cookies that tourists can buy to feed the deer. And amazingly, the deer were tame enough to just be hanging around waiting for their food.

Yes, they were EVERYWHERE!

I figured the deer were pretty well-fed already, so didn't buy any cookies.

Human snacks. It's cute how most of them have a deer motif.

After I got used to seeing random deer around, it was pretty cool to have them as part of the ambiance as I viewed all the impressive sights.

Part of the walk was through soothing, damp and lovely woods.

The really impressively large Nandai-mon, main gate leading to the
Todai-ji temple.

View of Nandai-mon as I passed below. See, it is HUGE!

Todai-ji temple. It is the largest wooden structure in the world.

Shoro Belfry (see the large bell in the middle?). It
would be so cool to see that being rung!

Entrance to Kasuga Taisha. The stone lanterns gave the space a really
dramatic old-world feel.

Side of a building at Kasuga Taisha. So pretty!

Ferocious dragon guarding the water basin

Yes, that is a deer going up the temple steps on the
left-hand side. 

Kofuku-ji pagoda

I had a lovely time walking around today. Nara-koen was so pretty and peaceful, even with the Golden Week crowd!

Sumiyoshi-taisha Shrine

On this particularly nice and mild Spring day, I decided to spend some time outdoors. A quick internet search led me to one of the oldest shrines in the region: Sumiyoshi-taisha, located only a short train ride away. Whee; let's go! Wikipedia tells me that this was founded back in the year 211 (although most of the buildings were re-built back in the 1800s). Free of Buddhist influence, the architecture here is supposed to be quite unique. This shrine is popular with local visitors around New Year's, and this sprawling complex houses not only four main sumiyoshi shrines, but multiple smaller ones as well.

Entrance to the shrine area

Before entering, visitors first have to go over a very steep bridge. It's quite beautiful and dramatic looking!

Definitely should hold on to the sides for safety!

So steep!

Once visitors make it over the bridge, there is a small fountain of water. As part of a purification ritual, you're supposed to rinse your hands, then take some water in your mouth and spit it out on the side. I saw some foreign tourists doing that, but I wasn't sure about the cleanliness of the water. So I just rinsed my hands.

The water was cool and refreshing.

Finally ready to enter!

There are four main shrines, and they are supposed to help protect fishermen and sailors. There are also a handful of smaller shrines, each dedicated to some form of success in business, or family.

To pay respects, put the offering in the box, ring the bell, bow twice,
clap your hands twice, and bow again.

I wonder if this little doggie is supposed to be
protecting the shrine he's in front of, or if he's the
deity of the shrine?!

Pretty sure this shrine is for motherhood. Maybe fertility?

Good luck cats! Available with right OR left paw raised.

Another shrine

Lots of wishes! I think this bunch was in front of a shrine for
scholarship; I saw a lot of "I hope I pass!" type wishes written.

What are these people looking for?

So... I'm supposed to find three rocks with words written on them?

Here they are! I wasn't sure about the procedure (something about putting
them into a pouch after making a wish?)... so I just threw the pebbles
back behind the fence.

It was so peaceful to walk slowly through the area, and fun to learn a little bit of history while taking in some beautiful scenery!

Spring is here!

One of the strangest and yet most enjoyable experiences I had upon moving up north was the advent of Spring. Trees that looked like ugly dead twigs suddenly sprouted tiny green leaves, and in the span of about a week, nature comes alive with color. It was definitely not something I had seen in Florida as a child, and it never quite lost its magic with me.

And so every Spring, I would trek to the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens to witness the spectacle that is the cherry blossom blooming. For some reason, simply sitting underneath a canopy of pretty pink flowers made me feel happier.

Picture of a picture... of the blossoms in Brooklyn.

Turns out, cherry blossom admiration is a big deal in Japan! Called "Hanami", literally "flower viewing", this centuries-old tradition is still being followed today. As I entered the local park, it seemed like the whole town was there, either having a picnic under the trees, or barbecuing near a lake. Even though the day was a little chilly and overcast, it didn't stop anyone from snapping multitudes of pictures beneath the blossoms.

Enjoying the day out!

Picnic with a view!

It's interesting to note that the blossoms look very different here compared to New York. I haven't done the research yet, but I guess there are different strains of trees??

The blossoms are smaller and more delicate, and are much lighter
in color. The contrast though, between the pale flowers
and dark branches is strikingly beautiful!

Close-up of the blossoms, on my unfortunately crappy phone camera.

Some trees had pinker flowers... different strain?

This one was more of a bush than a tree, but the color range is
odd and interesting!

It's a shame that these beautiful flowers only last for a few weeks. But it's also a great reminder for everyone to slow down, take a walk, and admire the moment!