The deer is considered sacred in many mythologies, there are legends about gods disguised as deer and about hermits living accompanied by deer…

In Japan, the Shinto religion considers deer as messengers of kami. A legend from Nara tells the story of Takemikazuchi-no-Mikoto, the kami of the Kashima Shrine (in Ibaraki Prefecture), who came to Nara riding a white deer. Since then, all the shika deer (Cervus nippon by the scientific name), are living free and protected in Nara, declared as Natural Monument.

Shika deer at Tōdai-ji Temple, Nara

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Yesterday’s Japan Photo: Old and new architecture in Mito