Nara

3 Jul 2025

I woke up bright and early again today- 530am, but I guess that’s what happens when you go to bed around 9pm. It seems I’ve managed to avoid any jetlag so I don’t mind this schedule I’ve settled into.

We met up again at breakfast and while we don’t have any time-sensitive plans today, it is supposed to rain this afternoon, so we’d like to get to Nara and explore as much as possible before that happens.

Unfortunately, we timed our departure with the morning work rush, so we were packed like sardines on the train:

So. Many. People!!!

Fortunately, the crowd only lasted for a few stops before most of them got off.

I successfully navigated us to through a line change to our 2nd train and a little over an hour later, we arrived in Nara!

A quick bathroom stop turned into an extended gift shop excursion (we were still in the train station!), so Jill and I once again split off from family and went exploring on our own (sorry Brad!)

Covers here have deer on them!

I picked up these matcha cakes (they were ok, a bit dry):

Jill grabbed a sparkling squash lemonade soda that sounded fun (yum! but again, not squashy…) and we started making our way to Nara Park.

I liked the reflection of the buildings on this pond:

First deer!

He was so close!

And another!

And another!

Casually crossing the street:

I quickly realized if I stopped and photographed every single deer I saw, we’d never get anywhere, so I’m only going to stop and photograph the ones that are super cute or doing silly things.  Like rubbing their heads on poles:

Or this little guy nursing!

They can get aggressive, but feeding them is allowed (they sell special crackers), so I did want to try that:

I, however, made the mistake of buying my crackers from a stand that was already surrounded by deer:

I wanted to tuck my crackers away and feed them to isolated deer- they bow for you if you feed them!

but as soon as I was handed my crackers, these guys swarmed!

Jill shot those pictures from a safe distance away 🙂

I barely had time to get my camera out (and didn’t even get the wrapper off my cookies- fed that to one of the deer accidentally!), but I did manage to get these couple shots, which is what I wanted!

If you didn’t feed them fast enough, they nudge you (not gently) with their heads (and some of them had quite large antlers!) or bit you in the leg.  I ended up with a chomp-mark bruise.

Ugh, not the peaceful feeding experience I had thought it would be.

Initially, I wanted to find a little plush deer to remind me of here, but I’m kinda over it.

So, off to find us a temple!

This is Himuro Shrine, whose resident diety is the god of ice.  You can buy a fortune which, when placed on a block of ice, reveals its text but I stuck with my traditional goshuin:

We continued onward into the park, where Jill found a snack and we made some friends:

Whole pack of deer!

Look at the little guys napping!

I’m pretty sure you’re not supposed to actively seek out the deer, but this lady made her way to the river and found a friend:

We eventually arrived at Todai-ji, a Buddhist temple that’s home to one of Japan’s largest Buddhas.

Nandaimon Gate, the largest temple entrance gate in Japan, was rebuilt around the year 1200 after being destroyed by a typhoon:

It’s definitely seen better days and is probably ready for a bit of restoration work:

Deer taking shelter in the shade under the watchful eye of a Nī-o guardian:

Approaching Todai-ji Chumon (Central Gate):

I appreciated ye olde bamboo cones:

Deer resting in the shade:

Todai-ji:

Originally constructed in 752, it was the head Buddhist temple and grew so powerful that the capital was moved away from Nara in 784 in order to lower the temple’s influence on government affairs.

It is one of the world’s largest wooden buildings, even though this version is only two thirds of the original temple hall’s size!

I especially like the buddha face peeking out from the open window 🙂

This Buddha sits 15m/49′ tall, and is actually an amalgamation of several parts as it’s been repaired and restored over the years:

One of two Bodhisattvas flanking the Buddha:

Profiles:

Buddhist guardians:

I was able to pick up another goshuin stamp:

Love the striking red paint:

We once again wandered a bit off the beaten path:

and I was able to pick up another stamp:

though it shares the same rounded stamp as the previous one, I think Todai-ji is such a large, sprawling temple that maybe they offer multiple goshuin stamps? This one did come with a cute origami corner cap and a stand-alone star as well.

Climbing upward:

We discovered more temple grounds:

Since we had already climbed several flights up stairs to get here, we went up a few more to get to the balcony of Nigatsu-dō:

Roof details:

Stone torii + sutra depository:

Tamukeyama Hachimangu, a Shinto shrine just adjacent to the Todai-ji grounds:

Head butts?

A little snack before heading back down:

This is ramune ice cream- it tastes a bit like blue bubblegum? the consistency was more dole whip than ice cream, and there were occasional chalky bits inside. Glad I tried it, but don’t need to eat again.

Deer, in their natural habitat:

Back amongst the crowds:

Tōdaiji’s Daibutsuden Hall reflected in the mirror-like Kagami Pond:

Unfortunately, it’s starting to look like rain, so we headed over to check out the museum- no pictures allowed inside, sorry! so here’s one last shot of the old gate:

When we came out, it was POURING!

Fortunately, we both had umbrellas; unfortunately, the rain was so heavy that we still got soaked- especially our shoes… I did throw a pair of flip flops into my bag at the last minute, so I do technically have a second set of footwear, but they aren’t really good for long walks- hopefully our shoes dry out because currently mine are quite sloshy!

The garden we had tried to find earlier, but accidentally routed to the wrong location:

Definitely not walking through it now!

Nara has several underground road crossings, which made dodging traffic and splashy cars easier, but some of the tunnels were a bit flooded. We ended up taking shelter in this building for a while waiting for a break in the storm:

I liked the symmetry and reflections of this passageway:

On our way in, we spotted this temple, Kōfuku-ji, so even though we’re more than ready to be done, we made a quick visit:

The hall itself is undergoing repairs and was covered, but I was still able to get a goshuin stamp!

Rainy deer:

Finally, we made it back to the covered shopping street we passed on our way in:

and stopped for a bowl of ramen:

I’m still not great with chopsticks, but this warm soup was definitely what I needed!

We also stopped for some fresh mochi- if you’re here at the right time, you can watch them pound it in that circular basin in the background, but we were a bit too late.

This was probably the worst thing I’ve eaten here so far- the outer matcha was just meh, and the red bean filling was quite bland as well. I choked it down, but had serious regrets!

One last cover- same as the one we saw earlier, but in color!

Then we hopped a train and headed back to Osaka. I had spotted this temple on the way in and made sure to watch for it on this return trip- I just liked the way it was sitting all alone in the field:

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On our way back, Jill mentioned wanting to check out the Dotonbori district, home to the famous Glico running man, so we Googled and it was actually along our route home! So we got off the train a few stops early and went exploring:

Lantern-lined canal:

Turns out, we were actually only like a block away initially, then walked in the wrong direction!

Here he is! The Osaka running man!

I’m still not sure why he’s a “thing” or how it got started (though he’s apparently been there since 1935?), but there was a crowd of people taking pictures, and the boats all stopped for photos too so…

I liked this fun octopus:

Montbell, REI of Japan and the other place I wanted to check out, was also off this train line, so we hopped back on, Jill kept riding to the hotel, and I got off a few stops early to do a bit more exploring. I ended up at the wrong mall at first, though I did come across an impromptu concert:

before finally finding my store. Unfortunately, it was crazy busy and Asian sizes are a bit too short for me (I need longer sleeves!), so I just left. A bit disappointing. To make up for it, I stopped at 7-11 for some ice cream (I spotted a mango cone earlier that sounded good)- this location didn’t have it, but they did have a coffee flavored one:

So I snagged that and, since eating while walking is frowned upon here, I took it back to my hotel and put my shower-shelf to use! (that is what it’s for, right?)

I also picked up a bedtime snack, but my ice cream was actually quite filling, so I just picked out the mandarin oranges (the milk jello was kinda weird anyway). I did try out the soda and while I still don’t have a great description for yuzu, it was citrusy and crisp and a nice way to end a long hot day:

Then, I took my shoes apart and hoped they’d be dry by morning 🙂

Good night!