Nara Park, Sunday afternoon. Deer roam around the entire grounds, and are free to walk off into the city should they so desire. They are to be found around the park's museums, shrines, temples and forests alike. Small children run up to the animals excitedly, testing their courage by going close enough to pat them on the back. One very young toddler escapes from his dad's grasp, runs around a male deer and grabs the antlers. The deer doesn't react, the parents laugh, the little boy backs quickly away, probably surprised by the extent of his own fearlessness.
Although the deer (and toddlers) are enough of a fun diversion on their own to make the park worth visiting, the main attraction in an area rich in historical monuments is the Daibutsuden Hall. This is the world's largest wooden structure and houses the world's biggest indoor Buddha. Having seen enough temples of late to become lost in a maze of emperors, clans and restorations, the best specific information I can offer is that it has stood on the site since the 8th century, and that Nara was Japan's first permanent capital.
Inside the hall, one of the supporting wooden struts has a hole through the base, said to be equal in size to one of the Buddha's nostrils. By crawling through, you guarantee the attainment of enlightenment later in life. Children queue, laugh, crawl through, pose for photographs.
I walk up through the forest to Nigatsudo Hall, from where the is a view across the Nara plain. In the forest area there are several shrines. A couple of these are covered in pink hearts and ribbons. At others, visitors go up in pairs to pay their respects, ringing the bell at the front of the shrine before bowing, clapping twice and pausing quietly for a few moments.
