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春日大社の「神の使者」として、奈良では鹿は厚く保護されていた。現在奈良公園(周辺寺社境内を含む)の中には至る所に鹿は群れをなし、中には市中に現れるものも多い。
もちろん東大寺の境内にも多くの鹿がいる。写真は南大門の前。ここは多くの観光客が行き来するが、鹿たちは観光客にはお構いなく参道に現れる。付近の木陰などは彼らには格好の憩いの場になっている。
この付近には「鹿せんべい」(鹿の餌)を売る屋台が多い。観光客たちはこの「鹿せんべい」を買ってそれを鹿に与えるのが楽しみの一つとなっている。鹿達も心得たもので、「鹿せんべい」を手にした観光客を見るや否や、たちまちにその周りを取り囲むのだ。それだけではない。何も手にしていない人に対しても催促するかのように頭を突き出してくる。私の鞄の中に顔を入れ、鞄の中のパンフレットの紙を食いちぎっていく「狼藉者」も居る。案外「困った存在」なのだ。
奈良公園の鹿は、格好の写真の題材でもある。何しろ「肖像権」を主張しない、良質な「無料のモデル」なのだ。歓声を上げながら彼らにカメラを向ける観光客を至る所で見かける。
此処は人(観光客)と鹿との「共生の場」なのだろう。
The eight islands of Japan sprang into existence through Divine Intervention.The first two gods who came into existence were Izanagi no Mikoto and Izanami no Mikoto, the Exalted Male and Exalted Female. It was their job to make the land for people to live on.They went to the bridge between heaven and earth and, using a jewel-encrusted halberd, Izanagi and Izanami churned up the sea into a frothy foam. As salty drips of water fell from the tip of the halberd the first island was formed. Its name was Onogoro.So far, so good. But when Izanagi and Izanami first met on their island, Izanami spoke to Isanagi without being spoken to first. Since she was the female, and this was improper, their first union created badly-formed offspring who were sent off into the sea in boats.The next time they met, Izanagi was sure to speak first, ensuring the proper rules were followed, and this time they produced eight children, which became the islands of Japan.I'm sure you did not fail to miss the significance of this myth for the establishment of Japanese formal society.At present, Japan is the financial capital of Asia. It has the second largest economy in the world and the largest metropolitan area (Tokyo.)Technically there are three thousand islands making up the Japanese archipelago. Izanagi and Izanami must have been busy little devils with their jewelled halberd...Japan's culture is highly technical and organized. Everything sparkles and swooshes on silent, miniaturized mechanisms.They're a world leader in robotics, and the Japanese have the longest life-expectancy on earth.Text by Steve Smith.
