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Joe Steinbring

Nara

Two antlered stags and a doe lie on stone paving by a stone railing, with trees behind.
Nara’s deer, long held to be messengers of the gods, taking a morning rest.2026 · Photograph by Joe Steinbring
Static offline map showing Nara in Japan with a location pin.

I have been to Nara twice. The first time, on September 14, 2024, was partway through a trip that went on to South Korea and Taiwan: I started at Todai-ji and its Great Buddha Hall, stopped at Kikuichi, a knife shop descended from Nara’s medieval swordsmiths, and finished the afternoon under the hanging lanterns of Kasuga Taisha. I came back early on July 17, 2026, with my nephew, the morning after Hiroshima. Both times the deer were everywhere, wandering the park and the streets around it and resting in the shade.

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  • Gilded lanterns hanging in a row along a corridor of vermilion pillars, two wooden buckets below.

    Some of the roughly three thousand lanterns at Kasuga Taisha.

    2024 · Photograph by Joe Steinbring

  • A man works at a tree-stump bench in a knife shop, a giant sword in its scabbard hung above.

    Kikuichi, a knife shop descended from Nara’s medieval swordsmiths.

    2024 · Photograph by Joe Steinbring

  • A huge temple hall with a double roof beyond a gate, reflected in a still pond under clouds.

    Todai-ji, home of Nara’s Great Buddha.

    2024 · Photograph by Joe Steinbring

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