Skylar, Grandma Chiyohi, and I joined our neighbor Y for a Saturday outing to the famous and nearby historical city of Nara. Our destination: The magnificent Todai-ji temple (which includes the Daibutsuden, a.k.a., "the Great 
Buddha Hall"--the largest wooden structure in the world--which houses the largest bronze statue of Buddha in Japan--created in 752AD).
Nara is also famous both as the "birth place" of Japanese culture and for the hundreds of deer which roam freely and under protection as a sacred animal in this ancient city.
The sacred deer, however, are so badly spoiled by all the tourists who feed them sacred biscuits (which you can conveniently purchase on the spot for 150 yen) as well as anything else people might be munching on from the many vendors surrounding the temple. As a result, the deer act more like badly behaved ponies with antlers as they beg, follow, and dive bomb anything that looks remotely like food in your hand. One deer ate grandma's paper admission ticket to the temple (right out of her handbag when she wasn't looking), another clenched my teeshirt between its teeth in a vicious tug-of-war, and another nipped me in the stomach. Skylar thought all of this was quite hilarious and definitely more entertaining than anything going in inside the temple.
Speaking of which, behind the great bronze Buddha, there is a famous wooden support column with a small hole carved into its base. It is said that whoever can squeeze through the hole will receive enlightenment. After watching countless toddlers shimmy through the hole (and at least one very skinny female high school student do the same), Skylar declined the invitation to crawl through. Besides, he reminded us, he already squeezed through the opening seven years ago and has been receiving the benefits every since.
Outside the Daibutsuden there is also an 18th century wooden statue of Binzuru (one of the disciples of Buddha). Many believe that if you rub any part of Binzuru's body and then touch the corresponding ailing part on your own, you will be healed. I tried to persuade Grandma to rub Binzuru's aching legs and then touch her own, but she said there was no way she was going to touch something that one million people had already rubbed this year. It just wasn't sanitary.
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