Okimono of a deer

In Japan and China the deer is an animal particularly important in Buddhist symbolism where the golden deer is a manifestation of the Buddha free of suffering. For the Shintoism in Japan, the deer is the rim and the messenger of the gods and is itself considered a divine being. According to legend, the god Takemikazuchi no kami arrived in Nara on the back of a white deer. Since then, thousands of deer roam freely in parks and temples of ancient imperial capital.