New Year Day in Nara

To start off the New Year we headed to Nara and visited temples and shrines as part of the huge crowds of Japanese people who make this their tradition every year.  Many opportunities to get fortunes   and good luck tokens and to feed the very friendly (at times militant) deer of the park there.  And of course, the BIG Buddha.

crowds headed into Kasuga shrine, the path lined with stone lanterns

reading purchased fortunes- if good, keep it;
bad, tie it up and leave it behind

rejected fortunes

bad fortunes tied to a tree

feeding the deer

someone with a lot of crackers!

lighting incense 

the BIG Buddha

outside the gate to Todai-ji

more friendly deer

homemade donbori