Everyone’s heard of the deer that you feed in Japan, and today was the day that we got to see what all the fuss was about.

As the bus cruised by the park, we all gasped at the sheer number of deer strolling around.

”We are here in the morning, so the deer might still be hungry,” said Ben. “Be careful. Some bow to ask for food. Others will grab your clothing.”

See?

We were here for 2.5 hours. The plan was to ignore the deer at first and go straight to the temple, then enjoy lunch and the deer on the way back to the bus.

Now, I know that between Vietnam and Japan, I’ve seen a lot of temples and shrines in the space of a month. But this temple was amazing.

Todaji Temple was built in the 700s, after Buddhism arrived in Japan from China. There had been a huge pandemic and around 30% of the population died. Back in those days no one knew about viruses and germs, so this new religion offered hope in a time of great distress.

Buddhism took off like wildfire. Back in the day there were 5 million people in Japan. Two and a half million joined the project to build a Buddhist temple in every area with over 100 of them being built. This one was like the mother of all of the temples.

The only part of the temple that has survived since those times is a small gate on the side, which is around 1,300 years old. This front gate is 700 years old.

There have been civil wars, as well as WWII fought around here. The main hall is hundreds of years old, but it’s still smaller than the original one built in the 8th century.

Bullet holes.

Every Buddhist temple has two statues of Buddha at the entrance. Usually, these face south, but in this temple they’re facing each other. This is the only temple in Japan where they do this.

These Buddhas always have one with its mouth open, to symbolise the beginning of life, like a baby crying…

… and one with its mouth shut, for the end of life.

This is the main hall. It’s MASSIVE.

This was sitting outside the main hall. It’s the only statue of Buddha that people can touch. This is the ancient version of going to see a doctor.

If you weren’t feeling well, you’d travel to the temple and touch the part of Buddha that was in pain. Migraines? Touch his head. Sore back? Touch his back.

”You travel a long way, touch the statue, you believe… sometimes people get better!” said Ben.

I got two for one statues in this photo!

The picture doesn’t do justice as to how big this statue really is. It towers over everything. It’s very impressive.

One hand is laid down, open palmed, on his thigh. It means, “Your prayers and wishes can be granted.” His other hand is held up, meaning “Do not be afraid.”

He is flanked either side by his deputies, covered with gold leaf.

This gold backdrop shows that this big Buddha is the centre of all the universes, and he has sent out versions of himself to all of the other universes.

The butterflies on the vase have 8 legs, not 6. This means that they are not of this world, but are from paradise.

I loved this statue. He is one of the 4 warrior kings who is there to protect Buddha. Or cause mayhem, perhaps.

Anyway, I was keeping an eye on him.

This is a model, built by prisoners, which shows how the original temple looked like back in the eighth century.
The pagodas either side were huge. They had 7 levels, while the biggest ones nowadays only have 5. Notice the roof of the one on the right, with the gold sticking up.

Here is another warrior king, but he’s the leader. He holds up a container which is exactly like the Golden Pavilion we saw a few days ago. It’s showing that he’s ready to collect and guard the sacred remains of Buddha.

They were running out of money, so he got what remained of the gold leaf.

Outside is a replica of the gold topping of the right hand side pagoda. If you zip back and look at the model, it brings home just how big these buildings actually were.
The main hall, which is huge, is actually 33% smaller in modern times than it was when it was first built. It would have blown the minds of pilgrims and worshippers back then.

I took a last look as I walked away. It truly is an amazing place.

Her little face!

The reason the deer are here around the temple is that they are the messengers from the Kami.

Now, this deer was smart. This is one of the places that you can buy the special biscuits to feed the deer. This one was waiting in the shop!

I asked a random guy to film this for me.
It’s lucky I was wearing my jumper around my waist, because Ben was correct. Those bloody deer sneak up on you from behind and try to bite. My jumper had deer spit on it.

A bit of subtlety in the advertising here as I walked down the Main Street back to the bus.

I loved the colours here.

This lot have clearly eaten their fill and want to be left alone to digest in peace.

Then it was a two hour tour of the Toyota museum.
I have nothing against Toyotas. My second car was a Corolla.

But I’ve rarely been so bored in all my life. These robots were interesting, I guess. They weren’t moving though. You had to watch the video to see what they could do.

And I suppose this car was cool.

I lasted 20 minutes, tops, before I went back to the bus to find my iPad. I spent a very pleasant hour sitting under a tree, reading. Far better than walking around looking at dismembered cars. I had enough of that when I was a kid and Dad was restoring vintage cars.

Speaking of Dad, Kate messaged me. He has pneumonia. Again.

I’m keeping my fingers crossed that everything is going to be okay for Africa for me and India for Kate in a little over a week. That poor man can’t seem to catch a break at the moment.

Dad Joke of the Day: