Nara Park: deer, rice crackers and headbutts.
Hello again, everyone - apologies for the radio silence. I was reading an article on growing a Substack account, and it advised against publishing posts daily to avoid flooding subscribers’ inboxes like a spam bot. Which I’m not. But I do like spam. So here I am on a less frequent delivery schedule. Chances are, I’m still going to be describing food I’ve eaten in mouth-drenching detail.
I tell a lie. I have, of course, eaten an abundance of delicious food - the majority of it fried and full of salt - but I’ve been keeping up my running in the hope of avoiding the early arrival of diabetes. To be honest, the egg-mayo sarnies are a good way of avoiding excessive tempura and salt, so that’s even more of a reason to scoff them daily.
But the lie I referred to, before getting distracted by food, was that I’ve actually participated in an activity that will also reduce the probability of diabetes: we visited Nara Park. Nara doesn’t come with an insulin shot - it just meant I was going to be talking about something other than food. In case that wasn’t clear.
A 45-minute train journey from Osaka, Nara Park is nestled in Nara (obviously), which is the capital of Japan’s Nara Prefecture in south-central Honshu. The park covers a staggering 1,600 acres and is a popular tourist attraction due to the 1,200 wild sika deer that roam freely. The deer are officially classified as a national treasure. Basically, they are wild animals and fend for themselves without any need for human interaction. They graze the many acres of grass at their feet but, of course, enjoy a non-essential addition to their diet - just like me and the TikTok sarnies.
Enter us humans, who have found a way to monetize these beautiful creatures by turning them into a tourist attraction and feeding them ‘deer crackers.’ These crackers, made from wheat flour and rice bran, are sold by vendors within the park. Clearly, they aren’t an unhealthy snack, as none of the deer looked like they could do with running the streets of Osaka with me to lose some clem.
The crackers come in packs of five and will cost you roughly £1. A quick search on Instagram will show you some delightful photos of people feeding these harmonious creatures - such calm and gentle delights. I’m sure if they could speak, they would thank you dearly for each cracker you feed them. However, the very second that pack of crackers is gone, you need to be ready for a very sudden change of character. The once calm and charming deer you just bonded with will have no hesitation in headbutting you, biting your clothes (or your bottom, as you’ll be running away), and there are even reports of people being pushed over in a fit of pure greed.
When you first arrive at the park, you are overwhelmed by the number of deer roaming around and the new experience of being amongst so many wild animals. After a while, though, the background sounds become more prominent, and you start to notice the screaming and hysterical laughter that is constantly going on. They don’t pick and choose their targets, every single living human being that passes into their domain is at risk of a bitten bottom or a headbutt to waist-level anatomy.
One thing I forgot to mention, far removed from the violent attacks they seem to enjoy bestowing upon us fragile beings, is that the deer greet you with a bow (with the assumption of being fed, of course). The bowing deer. How truly wonderful and polite. Research suggests that in the early days of Nara’s deer-human co-existence, the deer feared humans, so to co-exist peacefully, they began to bow. Since the city became a sightseeing hotspot, this display of peace evolved into a way of asking for food.
It might seem like an act of magic, like something out of a fairytale,
a wild animal with grace and manners, a creature that bows in exchange for food. But I completely trashed that thought and compared it to my French bulldog at home, who will sit for food. An animal will literally do anything for a tasty snack. If enough of your deer mates tell you to drop your nose to the floor and these weird upright creatures will hand over a tasty treat, best believe evolution will play its part and ensure the bowing goes on for generations.
Nonetheless, Nara Park was a wonderful experience I’d recommend to anyone who has the chance to visit. Don’t wear high heels so you can stay agile on your feet, and leave the mini skirts at home to avoid exposing your buttocks to a deer bite.
See you on the next one.