A Morning with the Sacred Deer of Nara: A Reflection

After a red-eye flight from Kuala Lumpur, I arrived in Japan weary but filled with anticipation. My destination: Nara—a city talked about in countless blogs and travel guides, famed for its free-roaming, sacred deer and ancient temples. I landed in Osaka, then journeyed by train to Nara, checking into the Centurion Hotel Classic Nara, a stone’s throw from JR Nara Station. The decision was a practical one: I needed to be close to the station, and more importantly, to the deer I had travelled so far to see.

I had read endlessly about Nara Park and its famed inhabitants. Every guide painted it as a must-see—charming, picturesque, a fairytale scene of humans and deer coexisting. But if I’m being honest with myself, I didn’t quite do Nara justice. I was exhausted from the journey and had only one night before I needed to check in for a course nearby.

Still, as twilight crept across the city and hunger pulled me out onto the walking street, something unexpected happened.

There, in the soft glow of the setting sun, just outside a 7-Eleven of all places, stood three deer. Calm. Still. Utterly unfazed. I paused mid-step, unsure whether I was dreaming. I had known, of course, that the deer roamed freely, but I hadn’t expected to see them casually loitering beside a convenience store. It felt surreal. Enchanting. Slightly ridiculous, and yet deeply moving.

That night, I read a story about a monk from Kasuga Taisha Shrine who, at first light, calls the deer from the forest. The image danced in my mind: the land of the rising sun, a holy man’s call, and gentle creatures answering.

Determined not to miss this spectacle, I set my alarm. But my tired body had other plans. I woke up late. Still, I threw on my walking shoes and made the quiet, 2-kilometre journey to the park in the cool of morning.

As I passed the National Museum of Art, a flicker of movement caught my eye—a lone deer. Then another. And another. Within moments, I was surrounded. Twenty, perhaps more. Males with majestic antlers, delicate does, and young ones just learning the rhythm of the world. It was quiet, peaceful, profound.

And then, as if choreographed by something greater, one deer stepped toward me, stopping a few metres away. It bowed.

And so, naturally, I bowed back.

What else was I to do?

I found myself sitting in stillness, soaking in the moment. A few locals jogged past, their morning greetings—“Ohayou gozaimasu”—drifting gently in the air. It felt like I had stepped into a myth.

But then, a shift.

A rustling, a clatter—plastic and glass. I turned to find dozens more deer across the lawn of the museum. One particularly determined deer was pawing at a plastic bag. It snapped me out of the magic. Like a stone cast into still water, the illusion fractured. The deer were no longer wild and sacred, but scavengers—drawn not by ancient ritual, but by the scent of human rubbish.

I couldn’t help but think of the macaques at Batu Caves back home in Malaysia—once wild, now reliant, their instincts dulled by constant exposure to people and snacks.

I am fully aware that tourism allowed me that intimate, magical moment—the bowed head, the soft gaze, the stillness. But it left me wondering: at what cost?

A few days later, during an immersion training in Obitoke, I encountered wild deer—truly wild. Shy, alert, and swift. They kept their distance, their eyes sharp with ancient memory. That encounter, too, was profound. And, perhaps, even more sacred for its fleetingness.

If I could send out a single thought, a soft prayer carried on the wind, it would be this:
To all who travel to Nara, may you tread gently. Be present. Be kind. Be conscious of your actions and interactions. The deer of Nara are not pets nor props—but part of a fragile dance between nature, history, and us.

Let us not forget their wildness, even as they bow politely in return.

From one traveller to another—let's leave magic behind us, not mess.

With reverence,
Shakira
Whispers Beneath Trees

P.S I do not take credit for the stunning photo of the deer. It was a readily available photo offered in Squarespace. Please visit my Instagram for my videos of my morning with the deer.