News Kyoto wild deer to be relocated to Nagoya Castle

An unusual plan to relocate wild deer from the outskirts of Kyoto to Nagoya Castle, about 100 kilometres away, is drawing increasing attention. Whether the transfer will go ahead remains uncertain. Nagoya Castle, built by Tokugawa Ieyasu (1543–1616) and one of the city's best-known landmarks, is currently home to two deer living in the inner moat that surrounds the honmaru, including the main keep. The animals are a mother and her young, both female, and are locally known as Momiji-chan and Yamamura-chan.



The Nagoya Castle General Administration Office says historical records indicate that deer were kept at the castle during the Edo period (1603–1867). That population was lost during US air raids on Nagoya in the Second World War. In 1952, three deer were brought in from Higashiyama Zoo and Botanical Gardens, and their numbers rose to 56 by the late 1970s. The population later declined due to attacks by wild dogs, disease and other causes. In 1991, three more deer were introduced from Wakayama Castle Park Zoo in Wakayama. The two deer now living in the moat are thought to be their descendants. As both are female, the herd cannot increase unless male deer are brought in.

the city of Kyoto is advancing efforts to control the local wild deer population. In recent years, wild deer have proliferated around areas like a park near the Takaragaike pond, created as an irrigation pond during the Edo period in the city's Sakyo Ward, and the Mizorogaike pond, a national natural monument in Kita Ward that is home to rare plants believed to be remnants from the Ice Age, such as the buckbean. These areas did not have many deer until about a little over a decade ago. They have caused issues by consuming rare plants and crops, and one has been involved in a collision with a motorcycle. [...] The Kyoto Municipal Government began a project in fiscal 2024 to capture and cull approximately 80 deer thought to inhabit these areas, aiming to complete the cull over two years. Hearing this, Kyoto citizens urged Hirosawa to house the wild deer being culled in Kyoto at Nagoya Castle. The Nagoya government had considered acquiring deer from leisure facilities in other prefectures but shifted focus to Kyoto's wild deer. In August 2025, Nagoya city officials visited Kyoto to express their interest in receiving several deer.

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