[:it]La città di Nara e i suoi cervi, una meta imperdibile[:en]The city of Nara and its deers, a must see destination[:ja]The city of Nara and its deers, a must see destination[:]
[:it]Continuiamo il nostro viaggio nel Giappone e oggi ci spostiamo a Nara. Capitale dell’omonima prefettura, la città di Nara è situata nella regione del Kansai. Situata a nord della prefettura, i suoi confini sono adiacenti a quelli della prefettura di Kyoto.
photo credits: lensonjapan, Blondinrikard Fröberg
Con otto templi, rovine dei periodi passati e i famosi cervi, Nara rimane non solo una delle città più belle del Giappone ma anche una delle mete più ambite dai turisti. Durante il periodo Nara, la città era la capitale del Giappone e l’imperatore viveva qui prima di spostare la sede a Kyoto.
Il periodo Heian
Durante questo periodo, sono state proposte una numerosa fonte di teorie per l’origine del nome Nara.
Nara e La teoria Nihon Shoki
The Chronicles of Japan, il secondo libro più vecchio sulla storia classica giapponese, dice che la parola Nara deriva da narasu (essere piatti, a livello). Secondo questa teoria, nel settembre del decimo anno dell’Imperatore Sujin, alcuni ribelli scalarono la Nara-yama. Qui con le forze imperiali, si sono uniti per distendere alberi e piante ed è per questo che la montagna è chiamata Nara-yama. Trattandosi della testimonianza più antica, ha anche dei riferimenti nella cultura folkloristica. Essa infatti è considera l’etimologia storica da molti studiosi.
Nara e la teoria della “terra piatta”
Pensata da Kunio Yanagita nel 1936, al momento questa è la teoria più accettata. Questa proposta attesta infatti che “la conformità topografica di un area relativamente piana fra una montagna chiamata Taira nel giappone orientale e hae nel sud di Kyushu, si chiama naru nella regione Chūgoku e Shikoku del Giappone centrale. Questa parola da origine al verbo narasu e all’avverbio e aggettivo narushi”.
Inoltre, questa teoria è supportata anche da alcune parole inserite nei dialetti che si riferiscono ad un area pianeggiante con il nome di naru e naro. A maggiore supporto di questa proposta, troviamo anche l’aggettivo narui, che non è strettamente negli standard giapponesi, ma lo troviamo in utilizzo nelle aree centrali del paese. Il significato di questa parola corrisponde infatti a “gentile”, “pendenze gentili” o “facile”.
Ad ulteriore sostegno di questa sua teoria, Yanagita porta il fatto che molti di questi nomi sono stati scritti con il kanji 平 (“piatto”). Ovviamente il fatto che storicamente Nara era scritto con gli ideogrammi 平 o 平城 va ad ulteriore supporto di questa teoria.
photo credits: chrizyshot, pantoniades
Nara e le querce
Un’altra opinione comune è che Nara derivi dall’ideogramma di quercia (楢). Suggerita da Yoshita Togo, possiamo trovare questa pianta chiamata con questo nome sin dal settimo e ottavo secolo. Infatti, Narahara ad Harima (circa il Kasai di oggi) deriva dall’albero nara, che potrebbe supportare questa teoria.
Il nome Nara preso in prestito dalla Corea
Questa è una curiosità quasi sorprendente. In coreano infatti, nara (나라) significa nazione, regno. Matsuoka Shizuo sosteneva che questa potesse essere una valida origine per il nome della città. Tuttavia non ci sono poche o quasi nessuna traccia del coreano antico, e non c’è alcuna prova che questa parola esistesse nel settimo secolo.
photo credits: Jirka Matousek, Rhett Sutphin
Le origini
L’imperatrice Genmei nel 708 decise di spostare la corte imperiale nella nuova capitale, Nara. Conosciuta come Heijō o Heijō-Kyō, la città fu la prima capitale permanente del Giappone fino al 784. Successivamente la capitale fu spostata a Nagaoka per forzare le elite metropolitane e nuove tecniche di dinastie che si stavano diffondendo nel paese. Con lo spostamento in questa città, abbiamo anche la nascita dell’omonimo periodo.
photo credits: Banalities, Josemspain
La Religione
Le sei scuole del buddismo di Nara, anche conosciute meglio come Rukushū (六宗) erano una setta accademica di Buddisti. Arrivati in Giappone dalla Corea e dalla Cina nel sesto e settimo secolo, erano controllate dal nuovo governo di Nara.
A causa del coinvolgimento del governo nell’espansione religiosa, troviamo la costruzione di diversi templi nella città. Uno di questi è il sito dei Sette Grandi Templi del sud di Nara. Tuttavia, queste sette miravano a diventare la scuola principale del buddismo della Casa Imperiale del Giappone e della sua nobiltà. A causa proprio della conformazioni di questi templi, le scuole sono state appunto definite le “Sei scuole del sud del buddismo di Nara”.
photo credits: wikipedia.it
I Templi
Avendo stabilito Nara come nuova capitale, anche il tempio del clan Soga fu rilocato. L’imperatore Shōmu ordinò la costruzione del tempio Tōdai-ji e della più grande statua di Buddah in bronzo.
I templi, conosciuti come i Nanto Shichi Daiji, rimasero spiritualmente importanti anche dopo lo spostamento della capitale nel 794. Infatti, Nara ricevette il sinonimo di Nanto (南都 “La capitale del sud”).
photo credits: wikipedia.it
Nanto Shichi Daiji
Letteralmente “i sette grandi templi della capitale del sud”, un nome storico comune che si riferisce al complesso di templi buddisti situati in questa città.
- Daian-ji (大安寺)
- Gangō-ji (元興寺)
- Hōryū-ji (法隆寺)
- Kōfuku-ji (興福寺)
- Saidai-ji (西大寺)
- Tōdai-ji (東大寺)
- Yakushi-ji (薬師寺)
Nara divenne una città turistica già nel periodo Edo. Infatti, questi anni videro la pubblicazione di diverse mappe per i visitatori della città.
photo credits: wikipedia.it
La città Moderna
Nonostante sia stata capitale del Giappone dal 710 sino al 794, Nara divenne una città ufficialmente solo il 1 febbraio 1898. Da città di commercio del periodo Edo e Meiji, oggi Nara è una delle principale mete per i turisti grazie anche al suo ricco numero di monumenti. Inoltre, nel Dicembre 1998, la città divenne parte dei siti protetti riconosciuti dall’UNESCO come eredità dell’umanità.
photo credits: GGzeOuf, Travis, Cesar I. Martins
Il parco e i cervi
Sicuramente, una delle mete più famose è il parco di Nara assieme ai suoi immancabili cervi. Questo, è un parco pubblico istituito nel 1880, situato ai piedi del monte Wakakusa. Sotto il controllo della Prefettura di Nara, questo magico posto è casa per oltre 120 sika o shika, i famosi Cervi di nara.
I visitatori infatti, possono camminare per i prati accompagnati da questi simpatici amici a quattro zampe classificati come “monumento naturale” dal Ministero dell’Istruzione, cultura, sport, scienza e tecnologia.
photo credits: Alberto Ortega, japanitalybridge.com
Secondo i locali, il cervo di quest’area era considerato sacro e il vassello ideale per una visita da uno dei quattro dei del santuario Kasuga, Takenomikazuchi-no-mikoto. Apparso sul monte Mikasa-yama, si dice fosse stato inviato da Kashima (Ibaraki) a cavallo di un cervo bianco.
Tutt’ora, questi cervi sono considerati simboli sacri e divini del santuario Kasuga e Kōfuku-ji. L’uccisione di uno di questi era considerata delitto capitale e punibile con la morte fino al 1637. Dopo la seconda guerra mondiale, il cervo fu ufficialmente spogliato dal suo stato di divinità e nominato “tesoro nazionale”, quindi soggetto a tutte le protezioni del governo.
photo credits: japanitalybridge.com, coniferconifer, Bill Hails, Steffen Flor
Se passate per questa città, non potete perdere l’occasione di passare del tempo insieme a queste magnifiche creature. E’ possibile anche acquistare degli appositi biscotti per nutrire i famosi cervi di Nara. Essi vi ringrazieranno con un inchino, ma attenzione, l’ingordigia è dietro alla porta, attenti a non farvi mordere!
video credits: japanitalybridge.com
[:en]We continue our journey in Japan and today we move to Nara. Capital of the homonymous prefecture, the city of Nara is located in the Kansai region. Located north of the prefecture, its borders are adjacent to those of the Kyoto prefecture.
photo credits: lensonjapan, Blondinrikard Fröberg
With eight temples, ruins of past periods and the famous deers, Nara remains not only one of the most beautiful cities in Japan but also one of the most popular destinations for tourists. During the Nara period, the city was the capital of Japan and the emperor lived here before moving the headquarters to Kyoto.
The Heian period
During this period, a large source of theories was proposed for the origin of the name Nara.
Nara and The Nihon Shoki theory
The Chronicles of Japan, the second oldest book on classical Japanese history, says that the word Nara comes from narasu (to be flat, to level). According to this theory, in September of the tenth year of Emperor Sujin, some rebels climbed the Nara-yama. Here with the imperial forces, they joined together to lay down trees and plants and that is why the mountain is called Nara-yama. Being the most ancient testimony, it also has references in the folk culture. In fact, it is considerered the historical etymology by many scholars.
Nara and the “flat land” theory
Designed by Kunio Yanagita in 1936, this is the most accepted theory at the moment. In fact, this proposal attests that “the topographical conformity of a relatively flat area between a mountain called Taira in eastern Japan and hae in southern Kyushu, is called naru in the Chūgoku and Shikoku region of central Japan. This word gives origin to the verb narasu and to the adverb and adjective narushi”.
Moreover, this theory is also supported by some words inserted in reference to a flat area with the name of naru and naro in many dialects . To further support this proposal, we also find the adjective narui, which is not strictly in Japanese standards, but we find it in use in the central areas of the country. The meaning of this word corresponds in fact to “kind”, “gentle slopes” or “easy”.
To further support this theory, Yanagita brings the fact that many of these names were written with the kanji 平 (“flat”). Obviously the fact that historically Nara was written with ideograms 平 or 平城 goes in support this theory.
photo credits: chrizyshot, pantoniades
Nara and the oaks
Another common opinion is that Nara derives from the oak ideogram (楢). Suggested by Yoshita Togo, we can find this plant called by this name since the seventh and eighth centuries. In fact, Narahara at Harima (about today’s Kasai) comes from the nara tree, which could support this theory.
The name Nara borrowed from Korea
This is an almost surprising curiosity. In Korean, indeed, nara (나라) means nation, kingdom. Matsuoka Shizuo claimed that this could be a valid source for the name of the city. However, there is little or no trace of ancient Korean, and there is no evidence that this word existed in the seventh century.
photo credits: Jirka Matousek, Rhett Sutphin
The origins
The Empress Genmei in 708 decided to move the imperial court to the new capital, Nara. Known as Heijō or Heijō-Kyō, the city was the first permanent capital of Japan until 794. Subsequently, the capital was moved to Nagaoka to force the metropolitan elites and new dynasties techniques that were spreading in the country. With the move to this city, we also have the birth of the eponymous period.
photo credits: Banalities, Josemspain
The religion
The six schools of Nara Buddhism, also better known as Rukushū (六宗), were an academic sect of Buddhists. Arriving in Japan from Korea and China in the sixth and seventh centuries, they were controlled by the new government of Nara.
Due to the government’s involvement in religious expansion, we find the construction of several temples in the city. One of these is the site of the Seven Great Temples of southern Nara. However, these sects aimed to become the main school of Buddhism of the Imperial House of Japan and its nobility. Because of the conformation of these temples, the schools were precisely defined as the “Six schools of southern Buddhism in Nara”.
photo credits: wikipedia.it
The Temples
Having established Nara as a new capital, the temple of the Soga clan was also relocated. Emperor Shōmu ordered the construction of the Tōdai-ji temple and the largest bronze statue of Buddah.
The temples, known as the Nanto Shichi Daiji, remained spiritually important even after the capital was moved in 794. In fact, Nara received the synonym of Nanto (南都 “The capital of the south”).
photo credits: wikipedia.it
Nanto Shichi Daiji
Literally “the seven great temples of the southern capital”, a common historical name referring to the Buddhist temple complex located in this city.
- Daian-ji (大安寺)
- Gangō-ji (元興寺)
- Hōryū-ji (法隆寺)
- Kōfuku-ji (興福寺)
- Saidai-ji (西大寺)
- Tōdai-ji (東大寺)
- Yakushi-ji (薬師寺)
Nara became a tourist city already in the Edo period. In fact, these years saw the publication of several maps for visitors to the city.
photo credits: wikipedia.it
The modern city
Despite being the capital of Japan from 710 to 794, Nara officially became a city only on February 1st, 1898. From a trading city of the Edo and Meiji period, today Nara is one of the main destinations for tourists thanks to its large number of monuments. Furthermore, in December 1998, the city became part of the protected sites recognized by UNESCO as a heritage of humanity.
photo credits: GGzeOuf, Travis, Cesar I. Martins
The park and the deer
Surely, one of the most famous destinations is the park of Nara together with its famous deers. This is a public park established in 1880, located at the foot of Mount Wakakusa. Under the control of the Prefecture of Nara, this magical place is home to over 120 sika or shika, the famous Deers of Nara.
In fact, visitors can walk through the meadows accompanied by these cute four-legged friends classified as a “natural monument” by the Ministry of Education, culture, sport, science and technology.
photo credits: Alberto Ortega, japanitalybridge.com
According to the locals, this area’s deer was considered sacred and ideal for a visit from one of the four gods of the Kasuga shrine, Takenomikazuchi-no-mikoto. Appearing on Mount Mikasa-yama, it is said to have been sent by Kashima (Ibaraki) riding a white deer.
These deers are still considered sacred and divine symbols of the Kasuga and Kōfuku-ji shrine. The killing of one of these was considered a capital crime and punishable by death until 1637. After the Second World War, the deer was officially stripped of its state of divinity and named “national treasure”, therefore subject to all the protections of the government.
photo credits: japanitalybridge.com, coniferconifer, Bill Hails, Steffen Flor
If you pass through this city, you cannot miss the opportunity to spend time together with these magnificent creatures. It is also possible to buy special biscuits to feed the famous Nara deers. They will thank you with a bow, but be careful, the greed is around the corner, be careful not to get bitten!
video credits: japanitalybridge.com
[:ja]We continue our journey in Japan and today we move to Nara. Capital of the homonymous prefecture, the city of Nara is located in the Kansai region. Located north of the prefecture, its borders are adjacent to those of the Kyoto prefecture.
photo credits: lensonjapan, Blondinrikard Fröberg
With eight temples, ruins of past periods and the famous deers, Nara remains not only one of the most beautiful cities in Japan but also one of the most popular destinations for tourists. During the Nara period, the city was the capital of Japan and the emperor lived here before moving the headquarters to Kyoto.
The Heian period
During this period, a large source of theories was proposed for the origin of the name Nara.
Nara and The Nihon Shoki theory
The Chronicles of Japan, the second oldest book on classical Japanese history, says that the word Nara comes from narasu (to be flat, to level). According to this theory, in September of the tenth year of Emperor Sujin, some rebels climbed the Nara-yama. Here with the imperial forces, they joined together to lay down trees and plants and that is why the mountain is called Nara-yama. Being the most ancient testimony, it also has references in the folk culture. In fact, it is considerered the historical etymology by many scholars.
Nara and the “flat land” theory
Designed by Kunio Yanagita in 1936, this is the most accepted theory at the moment. In fact, this proposal attests that “the topographical conformity of a relatively flat area between a mountain called Taira in eastern Japan and hae in southern Kyushu, is called naru in the Chūgoku and Shikoku region of central Japan. This word gives origin to the verb narasu and to the adverb and adjective narushi”.
Moreover, this theory is also supported by some words inserted in reference to a flat area with the name of naru and naro in many dialects . To further support this proposal, we also find the adjective narui, which is not strictly in Japanese standards, but we find it in use in the central areas of the country. The meaning of this word corresponds in fact to “kind”, “gentle slopes” or “easy”.
To further support this theory, Yanagita brings the fact that many of these names were written with the kanji 平 (“flat”). Obviously the fact that historically Nara was written with ideograms 平 or 平城 goes in support this theory.
photo credits: chrizyshot, pantoniades
Nara and the oaks
Another common opinion is that Nara derives from the oak ideogram (楢). Suggested by Yoshita Togo, we can find this plant called by this name since the seventh and eighth centuries. In fact, Narahara at Harima (about today’s Kasai) comes from the nara tree, which could support this theory.
The name Nara borrowed from Korea
This is an almost surprising curiosity. In Korean, indeed, nara (나라) means nation, kingdom. Matsuoka Shizuo claimed that this could be a valid source for the name of the city. However, there is little or no trace of ancient Korean, and there is no evidence that this word existed in the seventh century.
photo credits: Jirka Matousek, Rhett Sutphin
The origins
The Empress Genmei in 708 decided to move the imperial court to the new capital, Nara. Known as Heijō or Heijō-Kyō, the city was the first permanent capital of Japan until 794. Subsequently, the capital was moved to Nagaoka to force the metropolitan elites and new dynasties techniques that were spreading in the country. With the move to this city, we also have the birth of the eponymous period.
photo credits: Banalities, Josemspain
The religion
The six schools of Nara Buddhism, also better known as Rukushū (六宗), were an academic sect of Buddhists. Arriving in Japan from Korea and China in the sixth and seventh centuries, they were controlled by the new government of Nara.
Due to the government’s involvement in religious expansion, we find the construction of several temples in the city. One of these is the site of the Seven Great Temples of southern Nara. However, these sects aimed to become the main school of Buddhism of the Imperial House of Japan and its nobility. Because of the conformation of these temples, the schools were precisely defined as the “Six schools of southern Buddhism in Nara”.
photo credits: wikipedia.it
The Temples
Having established Nara as a new capital, the temple of the Soga clan was also relocated. Emperor Shōmu ordered the construction of the Tōdai-ji temple and the largest bronze statue of Buddah.
The temples, known as the Nanto Shichi Daiji, remained spiritually important even after the capital was moved in 794. In fact, Nara received the synonym of Nanto (南都 “The capital of the south”).
photo credits: wikipedia.it
Nanto Shichi Daiji
Literally “the seven great temples of the southern capital”, a common historical name referring to the Buddhist temple complex located in this city.
- Daian-ji (大安寺)
- Gangō-ji (元興寺)
- Hōryū-ji (法隆寺)
- Kōfuku-ji (興福寺)
- Saidai-ji (西大寺)
- Tōdai-ji (東大寺)
- Yakushi-ji (薬師寺)
Nara became a tourist city already in the Edo period. In fact, these years saw the publication of several maps for visitors to the city.
photo credits: wikipedia.it
The modern city
Despite being the capital of Japan from 710 to 794, Nara officially became a city only on February 1st, 1898. From a trading city of the Edo and Meiji period, today Nara is one of the main destinations for tourists thanks to its large number of monuments. Furthermore, in December 1998, the city became part of the protected sites recognized by UNESCO as a heritage of humanity.
photo credits: GGzeOuf, Travis, Cesar I. Martins
The park and the deer
Surely, one of the most famous destinations is the park of Nara together with its famous deers. This is a public park established in 1880, located at the foot of Mount Wakakusa. Under the control of the Prefecture of Nara, this magical place is home to over 120 sika or shika, the famous Deers of Nara.
In fact, visitors can walk through the meadows accompanied by these cute four-legged friends classified as a “natural monument” by the Ministry of Education, culture, sport, science and technology.
photo credits: Alberto Ortega, japanitalybridge.com
According to the locals, this area’s deer was considered sacred and ideal for a visit from one of the four gods of the Kasuga shrine, Takenomikazuchi-no-mikoto. Appearing on Mount Mikasa-yama, it is said to have been sent by Kashima (Ibaraki) riding a white deer.
These deers are still considered sacred and divine symbols of the Kasuga and Kōfuku-ji shrine. The killing of one of these was considered a capital crime and punishable by death until 1637. After the Second World War, the deer was officially stripped of its state of divinity and named “national treasure”, therefore subject to all the protections of the government.
photo credits: japanitalybridge.com, coniferconifer, Bill Hails, Steffen Flor
If you pass through this city, you cannot miss the opportunity to spend time together with these magnificent creatures. It is also possible to buy special biscuits to feed the famous Nara deers. They will thank you with a bow, but be careful, the greed is around the corner, be careful not to get bitten!
video credits: japanitalybridge.com
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