Bowing Deer in Nara, Japan (April 15, 2026)
The last time Elena and I were with Violet, we went to Nara Park to experience fully domesticated deer that bow to tourists in the hopes to receive a specially made deer biscuit just for them. Violet was unable to join us, so it was just Elena and I that experienced this truly unique experience. So, naturally, we wanted to shared this extremely memorable experience with both Will and Violet. It was a wonderful way to spend our last full day together as a family before Elena goes back to New York tomorrow (sniff).
Will lets the deer know he has no more biscuits … for them … for now
What we didn’t know when we planned this trip was that, 6 months ago, the deer were a bit more docile. Now that Spring is here, the male deer are growing in their antlers and are full of testosterone. That means they’re a lot more “aggressive” in communicating their desire for those deer biscuits so many humans provide them.
When a male deer is behind you, they can sometimes bow with your back to them and bump you with their antlers. Or, sometimes, they give you a bit of a bite to let you know they are behind you (like what Violet experienced.
Didn’t break the skin, but the deer’s bite was nevertheless noticeable
I know. Serves us right for participating in the domestication of wild animals. But there are deer biscuit vendors with signs that say, “By purchasing these biscuits, you are helping us take care of the deer.” And, besides, there are hundreds of deer who will come up to you and bow so that you give them a biscuit. They are well trained already.
Elena attracted three deer who were jockeying for their own biscuit
From the moment we purchased the deer biscuits from the vendor, the deer were on top of us. They never bother the vendors, but immediately approach any tourist who they see buying from the vendors. They know the drill and the hungrier they are, the more aggressive they seemed to be. It’s understandable. It’s a similar trigger we get to the music from an ice-cream truck or the smell of fresh food having just been made.
When it started to rain, we wrapped up our adventure with the deer and headed back to the train station … but not before pausing so that the kids could get ice-cream. Yes, it was about 10:30am, but we also knew we were not coming back, sooooo …
10:30am … a perfect time for ice-cream in the rain
Like I said, it was a nice final day together before Elena caught her train to the airport hotel so that she can have a good night’s sleep and head back to New York tomorrow morning. She’ll be missed. And, Violet, Will and I have an adventure of our own in store at Universal Studios, Japan.
