Japanese Food Bites: Indulging in the Taste of Summer

Another morning, another day awaiting new experiences in the Kansai region of Japan. We began the morning relatively uneventfully and in routine; Professor Ito’s class featured a writing workshop to help us develop our upcoming Food memoir assignment, while Professor Young administered our third and last quiz alongside his lecture. Red Bull drinks from the school vending machines powered us through the morning, as we navigated our last time in Ryukoku University’s Fukakusa campus.

Bimbimbap at Ryukoku University Cafeteria

Rushing through the university’s crowded cafeterias, I got a quick bibimbap before we met up at the gate with various students to embark on a long train ride to Nara. An hour was spent talking and making jokes amongst ourselves. We proceeded to walk around Nara and were immediately greeted by the stars of the show: the deers! It did not take much walking to encounter them right off the train station, interacting with the crowds.

Two deer off of the Kintetsu-Nara station

Wandering in and through, saw us come across more deer than I had ever thought possible. They roamed the streets with confidence as though they were the owners, and rightfully so. The deer have been living here for over 1300 years and have long been regarded as divine envoys of the Kasugataisha Shrine. As a result, they are carefully protected and watched over. Today, it is also a tourist attraction, with the main appeal being the deer bowing once you offer them food. Our first encounter with this was with an old man cycling and giving us treats to feed the deer.

Old man giving food to feed the deer

Many of us continued walking through to the temple, seeing the deer in the entourage of the park. Many shops and stands were available, selling deer food, which were thin, crispy crackers. To feed them, one puts their hand up with the food visible to the deer, proceeds to engage in very quick bows, and then feeds them. Many of us engaged in this activity while strolling around, though many deer seeing one with food could mean a swarm of them coming for similar reasons.

The nature of the park was breathtaking. Huge gates at the entrance to the temple, in addition to large statues of the Buddha, greeted us upon entering, and later, others went into the temple itself and saw magnificent statues of the gods. The deer carelessly roam around being their adorable selves, only asking for food and resting in place in the open field.

Entrance to Todai-ji temple

Surrounding nature of Todai-ji temple

I can only describe my time in Nara as adorable and beautiful. I had never seen so many deer in one place, and as a result, I had so much fun feeding and bowing around with the deer. Similarly, Huong felt the same way about the experience, though she noticed the strong odor of the deer’s feces. She went to the temple, which she found very big, and it is one of her favorite monuments that she’s visited in Japan so far. She expected more from the deer at first, though she eventually started to laugh at the various interactions they had with Aghapy and Dr. Young. She laughed a lot at the deer chasing Aghapy for food and the deer defecating onto Dr. Young. I can attest that these moments were highly funny and brought everyone a smile.

The train ride back to Kyoto was long, and we all fell asleep upon sitting down on the train. However, the deer were a highly fun and beautiful experience, and something that I look fondly on as our trip begins to switch into its final gears.