Japan's original country name NIPPON means "country under (or of) the sun," but the traditional name of the country when the capital was here in Nara was YAMATO (WA). YAMATO (Dai-WA) means "land of great peacefull harmony (between people and nature.)“ For about 1,300 years since the Emperor established the capital of Japan in Nara, deer have been traditionally cherished as messengers of the sacred gods of this island nation blessed with greenish nature, until the present day. Deer do not live in Nara Park all day, nor do they appear to be kept in captivity. They are wild deer. At night, the deer return to the mountains to sleep. During the day, they come down to the park to feed and relax. Their daily rotation seems to be like that. They are regarded as sacred animals, messengers of the gods, because of a legend that when one of the four gods enshrined at Kasuga Taisya Shrine in Nara moved from the shrine in Ibaraki to the land of Yamato (Nara), the deer protected and led the god along the way and brought him to this place. For 1,300 years, people have been told not to bully the deer, the messengers of the gods. The deer know from generation to generation, that humans think so and people did not harm them, so even though the city has changed its appearance, the wild deer still feel safe and comfortable living here and they live together with people without fear of them in Nara. We are often asked what we do with deer droppings. The deer in Nara Park are not domesticated, but have been wild deer since ancient times. They return to the mountains at night to sleep and come down to the park at sunrise. Their staple food is the grass and turf in the park. Deer droppings amount to 300 tons per year, but we humans don't care much about deer droppings. The reason is that the park is inhabited by a large number of insects called "dung beetles," which digest deer feces as their staple food. The dead bodies of the dung beetles are digested by earthworms and microorganisms and returned to the soil, where they become fertilizer for the deer's staple food, grass. Since ancient times, this place has been kept clean and free from terrible stench by natural circulation in its natural state, not artificially. The name of the country of Japan when the capital was located in Nara 1300 years ago was "YAMATO" or "WA". (Great harmony between human and nature.) As the name suggests, it is truly a city where man and nature have been in harmony for a long time. So every foreign visitors to Nara need to be aware of the deer in Nara Park are "wild deer", not zoo deer managed by the government. Therefore, it is dangerous to touch them or treat them as if they were domesticated pets. We don't know what parasites or diseases they may carry. It is very dangerous to kiss them directly. The right way to treat them is to live with them as if they were part of the natural scenery, like watching wild birds, like the people who have lived in Nara since ancient times. The Internet does not have a corrective function, so incorrect information is disseminated. There is no “Deer Park in Nara.” in Japan. The correct term is “Deer in Nara Park” or “Wild deer that congregate in Nara Park. Please do not be mistaken, and the risk of trouble with the deer is your own responsibility. because They are wild deer.
Why are foreigners always making a lot of noise and not just watching over the deer? You should not touch the deer. You should not get in the way of the deer. That is the Japanese way.
I‘m a Nara citizen.☺️ According to Japanese law, it is a violation for humans to join the deers in crossing the road when the light is red on the pedestrian side of the crosswalk. (Because they are forcing cars to stop while they are crossing...) Unlike deer, humans can understand the meaning of traffic lights, so we must cross the street when the light is green. ☝️ We ask all ladies and gentlemen reading this article to never do this to protect themselves.🙏😌🍀 ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー 私は奈良市民です。☺️ 日本の法律では、横断歩道の歩行者側の赤信号で、鹿達が道路を横断しているのに便乗して、人間も一緒に道路を横断するのは違反になります。 (横断中は自動車に停車を強要していますので…。) 人間は、鹿と異なって信号機の意味を理解出来るので、青信号で横断歩道を渡らなければなりません。☝️ この文章をお読みになった、淑女・紳士の皆様は、ご自身の身を守る為に、決してこのような真似をされないように、お願いをいたします。🙏😌🍀
@@user-pq1eu5ky5oさん I’m a Nara citizen. Thank you for your comment. ☺️ It may be difficult for Westerners to tell the difference, but the people who crossed the street at the red light look like tourists from China.🤔🍀 ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー 奈良市民です。 コメントを寄せて下さってありがとう。☺️ 欧米人の方には見分けが難しいかも知れませんが、赤信号で横断歩道を渡った人達は、🇨🇳国からの旅行者のように見えます。🤔🍀
That even wild deer follow rules that ensure their safety if they want to protect their own lives. The deer have learned from experience that ferocious vehicles will not harm them as long as they cross on the crosswalk. All animals, just like humans, find a safe place to protect their lives. There is a common denominator in the behavior of all creatures on earth. Another reason is that Japanese people did not eat animals in their daily lives until they opened their country to the West and imported Western culture about 150 years ago, so wild deer did not feel threatened by humans. Japan is a volcanic island surrounded by oceans and has a lot of rainfall. Fresh water filtered by the mountains overflows into the neighborhoods where people live. For this reason, the land has long been blessed with clean water, abundant green vegetation, and abundant marine resources. Therefore, it was possible to live on an abundance of plants, fish, and other marine products without having to eat animals. In Japan, as long as animals do not cause damage to crops, they have been treated as fellow human beings living in the same land, and wild animals know this empirically and do not fear humans as enemies who will take their lives.
