Rise in tourists prompts Nara Park to install trash cans to protect deer

For the first time in about 40 years, Nara Park in the city of Nara has installed public trash cans to help protect its famous deer, which are a national protected species.

Waste receptacles were initially removed from the park in 1985 to prevent the deer from accidentally eating out of them, according to Nara Prefecture officials. Following their removal, prefectural officials and volunteers cleaned the park, and signs telling tourists to take their trash home with them were installed.

But littering in the park has risen alongside an increasing number of foreign tourists in recent years, many of whom had expressed concerns about the absence of trash cans.

The litter left behind by visitors has become a health hazard for the deer, with research conducted by a conservation group finding plastic in the stomachs of nine out of 14 deer that had died in the park of unknown causes in 2019.

“There were a lot of people both for and against installing (trash cans), but we ultimately decided to install them to make things more convenient for tourists and to protect the deer,” said a prefectural official in charge of the plan.

Deer at Nara Park in the city of Nara in February. Plastic was found in the stomachs of a number of deer that had died in the park of unknown causes in 2019. | Jiji

Prefectural officials placed three trash receptacles inside a bus terminal within the park and three outside of the terminal in the middle of January, and kept them there for a month. During that trial period, the officials studied what type of trash was being thrown away, among other points of consideration.

“Most of the trash was from people walking while eating, and so we saw no problem with making their installation permanent,” the official in charge said of the trash cans.

To prevent the deer from eating out of them, the trash cans come with lids that have handles — these must be pulled down like a mailbox in order to place trash inside. The bins are also sturdy enough that the deer can’t knock them over.

Officials will consider whether more of these trash cans are needed.

“I had no idea there hadn’t been trash cans here until just recently,” said Yua Yamamoto, a 21-year-old university student visiting the park. “I don’t think it’s enough to have only six trash cans for a park this big. There should be more.”