Sacred Cervus: Deer Conservation Within Nara’s Temple Precincts

The sika deer of Nara have been a near constant within the Kansai region for over one thousand years. However, at the start of the twentieth century, a major spike in population led to a slew of ecological and human-made disasters which culminated in 2017 with the prefectural government calling for the first officially sponsored culling of the deer. The effects and success of this population control project have resulted in a wide range of academic and popular discussions on the (non)acceptability of killing these sacred beasts. However, little attention has been paid to how we arrived at this watershed moment, or the ways in which religious doctrine and practice within the Nara region has shaped both historical conservation practices and the more recent population management initiative. Furthermore, there has yet to be an in-depth study on how this notion of sacredness has influenced popular discourses on the status of Nara’s sika deer as a protected species, ecological nightmare, local pest, tourist attraction, and public safety risk. This article first traces the history of deer conservation in Nara before discussing the role that sacrality and naturalization have played in shaping the discourse on Nara’s sika deer.