Antler-Cutting Ceremony Held in Nara, Amid More Injuries Caused by Deer

The Yomiuri Shimbun

15:51 JST, November 9, 2025

NARA — A traditional antler-cutting ceremony was held for the famous wild deer in Nara on Saturday, about a month later than usual.

The jump in the number of tourists being hurt by deer in autumn last year prompted Rokuen, a facility dedicated to looking after the animals, to push back this year’s ceremony from October to early November. By doing this, the facility could focus on its regular — non-ceremonial — antler-cutting.

The ceremony started in the early years of the Edo period (1603-1867) to prevent male deer from hurting people or each other when they get aggressive during the rutting season. Today, the annual event is organized by the Nara Deer Preservation Foundation.

In September last year, 35 people, mainly tourists, were injured after deer struck them with their antlers. The number was seven times higher than in the same month the previous year.

In the ceremony at Rokuen, deer were released into an antler-cutting corral before 20 seko catchers herded them to a certain area and caught them with ropes. Then a person portraying a Shinto priest trimmed the antlers and showed them off to the audience.

“I’ve never seen deer running that way,” said a 6-year-old boy from Suita, Osaka Prefecture. “The catchers looked cool.”

The ceremony had also been scheduled to be held on Sunday but was canceled due to expected rain.