- Yellow Productions presents...
Feeding the deer in Nara, Japan.
Nara was one of Japan's original capitals in the year 700
and there's a lot of great culture here,
but that's not what this video is about.
This video is about feeding the 1200 wild deer
that live in Nara.
In the Shinto religion they're believed
to have descended from god, and so the deer here
are actually treated better than people.
So if you wanna feed the deer you have to buy
the deer crackers.
They call them senbei, they come in packages like this
for 150 yen each.
A pretty cheap deal for an entertaining time
feeding some deer.
If you come to Nara to feed the deer
I suggest bringing a senbei bag
or something to put your biscuits in
because the deer are pretty smart
and if they see you have a handful
they'll follow you around and you'll never get away.
So if you want to be creative in who you feed
take your senbei out of your bag,
pick the deer you would like to feed right here,
you see he'll come right up to you
and eat the biscuit right out of your hand.
This is truly amazing.
Never have I seen a place where you could feed deer
from your hand.
Usually deer run away, but these two don't.
I'm gonna call this one Albert
and this one Bob.
Thank you Bob, thank you Albert.
Bye-bye.
So as I said, the deer will follow you
because they think you'll feed them more,
they think there's more senbei in the bag,
which they're probably right, and then
they'll start to nibble on you.
So the question is do you give them more senbei or not?
Probably not, because then I don't know
that I'll get out of here alive.
You're not Albert, you're a different one.
Hello, are we going for a walk?
Where are we walking to?
Would you like to go to the store?
You're not gonna let me go very easily, are you?
I think I have a new friend.
I think he's so persistent that he probably
deserves another senbei.
So you know what, you are smart,
you're smart because you know if you fall someone around
for long enough they will feed you more biscuits.
Thank you.
Look at that, he knows he's done.
Because these deer are so smart
they've learned to congregate next to the deer cracker
stands, right here on the right is a deer cracker stand,
someone's getting ready to buy the crackers,
the deers know that feeding time is on.
Just follow the person that left the stand
and it's time for a tasty dinner.
If you do find yourself in this situation,
just keep walking, the deers will follow you
and it won't get too crazy.
However, if you find yourself cornered by the deers,
well, then it might get a little crazier,
then you need to be fast, feed, feed, feed,
otherwise the deer are going to be biting you,
your clothe, and everything around you.
Now once you've fed all the deers
you can be like this girl, put your hands up
and show them, no more cookies.
This guy on the other hand was not quite so successful
in his feeding attempt, the deers basically came up
and took the entire stack of crackers out of his hand.
That's a quick way for them to eat.
For the best feeding action try to get away from the crowds,
areas like this the deers are more hungry.
Maybe not that one though.
So Topher, some of those deers,
they didn't like the cookies, do you like them better?
- Nom, nom.
I'm not a deer.
- The other good thing about getting away
from the crowds is that the deers in the more remote
areas of the park are typically less aggressive.
I found the deer feeding in these areas to be more enjoyable
because the deers would eat nicely out of my hand
instead of trying to eat my entire hand.
Here's a nice one waiting kindly for his senbei.
Here we did a team feeding, one from me,
one from another random stranger.
Here's a team feeding of another kind.
There's two deers that think they're both
gonna get the same cookie.
Okay I'll do another one, back up a bit.
Cool?
The one on the left deserves a cookie too.
The deer in the park are wild animals
so there are some cautions to be aware of.
Sometimes they can attack people,
they can bite, they can kick, they can butt,
and hey can knock down.
You'll see most of them they have their horns cut off,
I think that's so they don't butt you
and keep you safe so you have a good time
while you're feeding biscuits to the deer.
Besides just the living deer, deers are used
in symbolism everywhere here.
Here is the entrance to a temple, there's a deer fountain
that you can wash your hands with before you enter.
Deer are used as advertising here at the optometrist
and here at the dentist.
Even the vending machines feature little cartoon deers.
The manhole covers on the streets
also decorated with deer.
They even sell little deer stuffed animals
holding their crackers.
The best time of the year to visit Nara
is in late March or early April
'cause you can get a double feature,
the deer and the cherry blossoms.
I think the cherry blossoms take a little bit of the crowd
away from the deer too 'cause they're all here
taking pictures in front of this tree.
So if your travels take you to Nara, Japan,
check out Nara Park for a unforgettable experience
feeding some deer.
Thanks for watching, click here to subscribe.
You might be interested in some of these other videos
from Nara, Japan.
Click either of them to watch.
In the lower left is a video with more scenic shots
of the deer in Nara and in the lower right
is a video on renting the Kimono
that I was waring in this video.
(soft guitar music)