The Red Leaves, the Deer, and the Quiet Within

As November quietly draws to a close, I suddenly noticed the courtyard of my apartment building glowing with vivid red leaves. I pass by it every day without really seeing it, but the other day, the colors stopped me. Their quiet brilliance invited me outside for the first time in a long while.

I have been thinking about how Kyoto and Nara reach the peak of their autumn colors around this time.

A vivid red maple glowing in the quiet courtyard.

Recently, Japan’s new Prime Minister, Ms. Takaichi, who is from Nara, read aloud a poem from the Manyōshū （万葉集）, the oldest existing collection of Japanese waka poetry, compiled in the 8th century. The poem describes a stag calling to his mate through the morning mist. She shared that she felt compelled to recite it after hearing news of tourists mistreating the deer in Nara Park. She said she cannot help but feel affection for the 1,460 deer that freely roam the area, and her words lingered with me.

In Japanese poetry, deer are classic symbols of autumn. For centuries, poets have written of deer standing among crimson mountains or calling softly across valleys.

A sika deer standing quietly in the autumn light at Nara Park.

In Nara, however, the deer hold an even deeper meaning: they are believed to be divine messengers. According to an ancient legend, the deity Takemikazuchi-no-Mikoto arrived in Nara riding a white deer, and since then, the deer have been cherished and protected for more than a thousand years.

These sika deer are wild, ownerless, and designated as a national natural monument. Seeing recent news about tourists harassing them saddened me, too. It has become easy for people to visit many different countries, but even when we are guests in a place, we should respect the culture that lives there. And respect does not apply only to humans—it extends to animals, to nature, and to the earth itself. When we honor these connections, we return to the quiet center of our hearts, where harmony begins.

 As I looked at the beautifully colored leaves scattered across the concrete of New York City, I found myself thinking of Japan’s autumn and the gentle reminders it carries that every season invites us to honor the world around us and the world within us.