Walk Nara among the deer
Nara was Japan's first permanent capital, and its temples sit in a large park where deer wander freely. FOG starts the map dark and clears only what you walk, and the park paths draw soft curves between ancient buildings.
The park
Nara Park is home to well over a thousand deer, considered messengers of the gods, which wander the paths and bow for crackers. Inside the park, Todai-ji holds the Great Buddha in one of the largest wooden buildings in the world. Kofuku-ji has a tall five storey pagoda.
Kasuga Taisha, to the east, is approached along paths lined with thousands of stone lanterns, and its corridors are hung with bronze ones.
Old merchant streets
South of the park, Naramachi is a district of old merchant houses with narrow fronts and long interiors, some open as museums and cafes. Its narrow lanes are good for slow walking.
Wakakusa hill, at the edge of the park, is a grassy slope with a view over the city. Isuien, a garden near Todai-ji, borrows the temple roofs as its backdrop. A day covers the park, the main temples, the hill and Naramachi.
Coverage
Nara is small, so a day or two lights up most of the centre. The park becomes a web of curving paths on the map.
Spring and autumn are beautiful and busy; summers are hot.
How FOG keeps score here
FOG starts with the whole world under fog. Every place you physically walk clears a circle of roughly 120 metres around you, and that ground stays clear for good. It keeps working with the app closed and the screen off once you allow background location, so the walk to dinner counts as much as the planned loop.
There is no account, no sign-up and no cloud. The trail lives on your phone and nowhere else, and you can export a GPX backup whenever you like. Exploring is free; one purchase of FOG Unlimited adds the higher ranks, all five character paths and history import, with no subscription.
Questions people actually ask
How many deer are in Nara Park?
Well over a thousand deer roam the park freely.
Is Nara a day trip from Kyoto or Osaka?
Yes, it is under an hour by train from both.
Is my location uploaded anywhere?
No. There is no account and no cloud. The map is stored only on your phone, and you can export a GPX backup yourself.
Start with a dark map.
FOG is free to explore. No account, no subscription, and your map never leaves your phone.
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