Nara, autumn
The deer antler cutting
Once a year, men in headbands drive the stags of Nara Park into a ring, rope them, and saw off their antlers, as the town has done in one form or another since 1672. Here is when it is, what it costs, and what you will actually see.
When it is
The antler cutting in 2026 is on Saturday 7 November and Sunday 8 November, from 11:45 to 15:00.
It was held every October until 2024. Since 2025 it has been held in November, and the organiser says plainly that there is none in October.
Those dates fall inside the Shosoin exhibition at the Nara National Museum, which runs until Monday 9 November. Nara will be busy, and the two are a short walk apart.
Tickets and times
| Doors open | 11:15 |
|---|---|
| Runs | 11:45 to 15:00, in sessions |
| Last entry | 14:30 |
| Junior high school age and over | ¥1,000 |
| Elementary school children | ¥500 |
| Tickets | Sold at the gate on the day only. There is no advance booking. |
Times and prices for 2026, from the organiser. Half price for holders of a disability certificate, and one companion. Free for members of the foundation, and one companion. The takings go to the foundation's work looking after the deer.
Before you go
- Goes ahead in light rain; cancelled in stormy weather
- The audience changes completely between sessions
- Standing only
- The arena is not step-free
- No pets
- No tripods
Getting there
The ring is at the The antler-cutting ring at the Rokuen deer enclosure, in the grounds of Kasuga Taisha (春日大社境内 鹿苑角きり場). No car park at the venue.
- Bus from JR Nara or Kintetsu-Nara to Kasuga Taisha Omotesando, then about 7 minutes on foot — Nara Deer Preservation Foundation
- About 30 minutes on foot from Kintetsu-Nara — Nara City Tourism Association
If you are coming by train, Kintetsu-Nara station is the nearer of the two, and has lockers for your bag.
What happens
- Shinto priests from Kasuga Taisha purify the ring and pray for the day to pass safely.
- Men in headbands and happi coats, called seko, drive stags with fine antlers into the ring using long poles with red flags, to the sound of a drum.
- A veteran throws a rope-strung bamboo cross onto a running stag's antlers. The others keep hold of the rope and draw the stag in without hurting it.
- The stag is laid on a straw mat. A man dressed as a Shinto priest gives it water to calm it, then saws the antlers off.
- Because the deer are regarded as messengers of the gods, the cut antlers are offered at the shrine.
Does it hurt the deer?
By this time of year the antlers have no blood vessels or nerves in them, so cutting them causes no bleeding or pain — the foundation compares it to cutting a fingernail. New antlers grow the following year.
The foundation also removes the antlers from stags in the park, gradually, every year, to head off accidents. The ceremony is the traditional, public part of that work.
Stags in the rut: what not to do
From late August the stags are in the rut and their tempers shorten. Their antlers are fully grown by then, and a charge can cause a serious injury. The foundation warns against:
- Walking up to a stag without thinking
- Teasing a deer by holding out crackers and not handing them over
- Going near deer that are fighting
- Feeding a hind in a way that hides her from a stag
In the rut a stag keeps several hinds around him. If a hind drops out of his sight while you are feeding her, he can take it that she has been hidden from him, and come at you from behind.
The prefecture's injury figures point the same way. Ranked by month: September first, then May and March. September is the rutting season, when stags are at their most aggressive. How often people are hurt, and how badly.
Why Nara cuts the antlers
The cutting began in 1672 (Kanbun 12). Stags turn aggressive in the autumn rut, and people in the town were being gored. Mizoguchi Nobukatsu, the magistrate of Nara, asked Kofuku-ji, which then looked after the deer, to cut their antlers. It was first done in the streets of the town itself, with deer driven into fenced-off blocks while residents watched through their lattice windows or from rooftops.
It has been held in today's ring since 1929. It lapsed in the early Meiji period and again during the war, and has otherwise continued ever since.
Questions people ask
When is the Nara deer antler cutting in 2026?
The antler cutting in 2026 is on Saturday 7 November and Sunday 8 November, from 11:45 to 15:00. It was held every October until 2024. Since 2025 it has been held in November, and the organiser says plainly that there is none in October.
How much does the antler cutting cost?
In 2026 it cost ¥1,000 for anyone of junior high school age and over, and ¥500 for elementary school children. Tickets are sold at the gate on the day only.
Does cutting the antlers hurt the deer?
By this time of year the antlers have no blood vessels or nerves in them, so cutting them causes no bleeding or pain — the foundation compares it to cutting a fingernail. New antlers grow the following year.
Can I book antler cutting tickets in advance?
No. Tickets are sold at the gate on the day, and the audience changes completely between sessions. Doors open at 11:15 and the last entry is at 14:30.
What happens to the antler cutting if it rains?
It goes ahead in light rain and is cancelled in stormy weather. In 2026 the second day was called off because of the weather.