In Nara, there are deer EVERYWHERE. They just walk around the city. They are protected by the government. It's a crime to hunt them or anything like that (Although there wouldn't be much sport in hunting them anyway, as they'll walk right up to you .) Anyway, you can feed the deer if you want, and there are a lot of little stands selling deer food. When the deer know you have food, they get very aggressive. They come up and bump you with their heads, which can be a little dangerous if they haven't had their antlers cut in a while. Very insistant; they're just like, "I know you have food. Give it to me NOW!." Anyway, here's a photo of me feeding the deer. http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/gg240/MatsubaraStephen/Deer.jpg
The main thing we went to Nara to see was Todaiji Temple. It was originally built around 1100 years ago, if I remember. It was destroyed and rebuilt on at least one occation, and there have of course been renovations. Anyway, it was massive public works project, mostly at the behest of the Emperor Shomu. The project was a way of uniting the people of the empire. People from all areas were called upon to contribute in whatever way they could. Todaiji is a Buddhist temple. It was around the time of Emperor Shomu that Buddhism started to take firm root in Japan outside of the aristocracy (Buddhism had been in Japan for about 100 years already, but the only people that really followed it or even KNEW about it were the aristocracy.) Buddhism was used as a tool for uniting the Japanese people together as a single people and country. At many periods in Japanese history, the land was fragmented into numerous small fiefdoms, constantly vying for power and land. With Shomu, Japan was united (for a period at least.)
Inside the gates, there are two large statues, which serve as guardians to the temple. Together, they are called "Aum." One is "Ahhh" the other is "Mmm." The sound "Aum" is considered a powerful, sacred sound. By saying this sound, the guardians ward off any polluttion that might defile the temple's sacredness. Anyway, here I am in front of "Ahh." (You can tell which one is which by their mouths. "Ahh" has an open mouth, and "Mmm" has a closed mouth.) with Melanie, Ikuno's French exchange student. http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/gg240/MatsubaraStephen/Aum.jpg