The city of Nara, near Kyoto, is full of temples and shrines dating back to the eigth centruy, when it was briefly the capital of Japan. One of the largest shrines in the city, the Kasuga Taisha shrine, is dedicated to deities that use deer as their sacred messengers.
As a result, deer are allowed to roam freely in Nara, and there are times when you can almost believe that they are sacred messengers of the gods:
Other times, not so much:
(The top picture shows a deer reclining next to the stone marker at the entrance of Todai-ji Temple, which houses the Great Buddha. The bottom picture was taken near a souvenir shop on the road from Todai-ji to Kasuga Taisha. The original, un-cropped versions, can be seen in the Nara photo set on Flickr, along with a hundred and forty-nine other pictures taken that day…)