Nara is a charming city that, in some ways, reminds me of Palo Alto—if you replaced Stanford with its famous Deer Park—while Nara does have a few auxiliary industries, its heart undeniably beats for tourism.
Deers are considered sacred messengers of the gods in local Shinto tradition. See more about Nara deer here at Nara’s official site.
And the undisputed stars of the show are the deers. The city has developed an impressively thoughtful system to ensure the well-being of its deer. For instance, to prevent tourists from feeding the deer unsuitable snacks, the park provides “deer cookies”—specialized treats sold throughout the grounds at a fixed price of ¥200 among all thrid party sellers at the park (around $1.26 USD for a patch). Give a little thinking about the incentives here—this is the simpliest yet possibly optimal solution to not only safeguards the animals’ health but also enhances the experience for visitors.
Consequently, the deers learnt the effortless way to obtain food, and even know to bow to people to ask for deer cookies.
Some deer though seem less Japanese-ish but more American—one even had the audacity to pick my pocket and made off with an entire stack of cookies.
Interestingly, this visit to Nara brought another connection to mind. My research supervisor Ryan’s AI for Social Good Lab is also named “Nara.” It’s a fitting name: easy to remember, distinctive in a sea of acronym-heavy lab titles, and imbued with a symbolic whimsy charm.