Guide · 2 min read ·
Nara’s Deer: How to Feed Them, and Where to Start
Nara’s deer look tame, bow for crackers and walk into shops. They’re still wild animals, protected as a natural monument, and they have a few rules of their own.
In short
- Feed them only shika senbei, the crackers sold in the park.
- One at a time, quickly. Don’t tease: a deer that sees a cracker it can’t have may bite or butt.
- Keep maps and plastic bags in your bag; leave antlers and stags alone, above all in the autumn rut.
- Start from the Kasuga Taisha side and come early: the crowds come up from Kintetsu-Nara.
How to feed the deer
The only food for them is shika senbei, plain crackers of flour and rice bran sold by stalls all over the park. Bread, sweets, fruit and your own snacks make the deer ill.
Do
- Buy senbei at the park’s stalls.
- Give them one at a time, and quickly.
- Keep paper, maps and plastic in your bag.
- Take your rubbish with you.
Don’t
- Hold a cracker up and pull it away.
- Feed anything but senbei.
- Leave a bag open on a bench.
- Let small children feed them alone.
Important: Deer eat paper and plastic bags by mistake, and plastic can kill them. Most bites and butts come from a deer that can see a cracker and isn’t getting it.
Why the deer bow
A deer that bows its head at you is asking for a cracker. Bow back and many bow again — it’s the best-known thing about Nara’s deer.
Tip: Out of crackers? Show your empty hands, arms wide. They understand, and move on to the next person.
Stags, the rut and fawns
Don’t grab antlers, hug or ride a deer: it stresses them, and they can carry ticks. Keep clear of stags with antlers.
- Autumn is the rut: stags are edgy and may charge. Keep your distance.
- In early summer the fawns are born: don’t go near fawns, or the does guarding them.
Which way into Nara Park
Most people walk in from Kintetsu-Nara station towards Kofuku-ji and Todai-ji’s south gate. That’s where the cracker stalls, the crowds and the pushiest deer are.
How locals do it: Start at the other end: take the bus up to Kasuga Taisha, then walk down through the park to Todai-ji. And come early: tour buses arrive after nine.
From Todai-ji, Isuien garden is a few minutes away, and calmer than anything around the Great Buddha.
Questions
How much are shika senbei?
The Nara City Tourism Association gives ¥200 for a pack of ten (2024).
Are the deer dangerous?
Usually not, but they bite, butt and kick when teased or in the rut. Feed quickly, keep children close and stay away from stags in autumn.
Sources
- Protecting the sacred Nara deer — Nara Prefecture
- Deer in Nara Park — Nara City Tourism Association
- Nara Park guide — MileAsia
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