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Ninety seconds on Nara Park
Yes to both. Nara Park is free and open round the clock on every day of the year, with no gate and no ticket. Visitors can walk in at any hour of the day or night.
They can. The deer are wild animals and sometimes attack, and the prefecture asks visitors with small children to take particular care. The prefecture's Nara Park deer consultation desk answers on 0742-26-7755.
Only shika senbei. The prefecture asks visitors to give the deer no other food of any kind, and rubbish such as paper or plastic must never be offered to a deer either.
Walk for about twenty minutes. The other way in is the loop bus, which visitors leave at the Kasugataisha Omotesando stop for the park and the shrine approach.
Hold up a treat and a wild deer will often bow its head before taking it from your hand. Tōdai-ji, Kōfuku-ji and the Nara National Museum all sit beside the same lawns.
Deer move freely across the grass and temple grounds in herds, and some stray as far as JR Nara Station. They are revered here as holy animals because of a shrine legend: a god travelled from Kashima Shrine to Mount Mikasa on the back of a white deer.
Rokuen, the sanctuary run by the foundation that looks after the herd, takes in deer hurt by traffic or found sick. It opens for viewing from 10:00 to 16:00 with no booking needed. Pets stay outside, apart from assistance dogs.
The Ukimidō, a pavilion on Sagiike pond, is one of the park's scenic spots and is reflected in the pond.
On 23 January 2027 the park holds Wakakusa Yamayaki, which opens in the evening with more than 500 fireworks. Viewing is ticketed only inside the gate at the foot of Mount Wakakusa and on the roof of the Nara Park Bus Terminal, and severe weather cancels the night.
Start at Kintetsu Nara Station and walk up to Kōfuku-ji, at the edge of the park. Vendors around the park sell shika senbei, the crackers fed to the deer, and the deer gather on the open ground beyond.
Keep the pack out of sight once you have it. A pack in plain view brings deer over from far across the park, and a bag only half works, since they can smell what is inside.
Hand each piece over as soon as a deer asks for it, because a deer kept waiting will shove from behind, butt or bite. When you have finished, hold up your hands so the deer can see they are empty.
Cross the lawns to Tōdai-ji, then go on to Kasuga-taisha. Its grounds hold Tobino, the field where the herd is called in on set mornings in July, August and December and on winter Sundays and holidays into February. The deer foundation posts the dates; summer calls begin at 9:00.
Before buying, stand back and watch how the deer treat other feeders, then pick a spot away from any group already surrounded by deer. A deer that knows there is more food will keep pressing until it has the whole lot.
Deer eat paper, so keep a map in an inside pocket. If a deer crowds you, do not drop the food to get away, because that is exactly what it wants.
At Rokuen, leave the flash off and carry your rubbish out, as there are no bins.
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The official pages this guide was checked against.
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