Tricycle - Nara en Sento-kun: Half-Deer, Half-Buddha Boy <!--paging_filter--><p><img src="/sites/default/files/images/webexclusives/sento_costume_DV_20101203021429.jpg" style="float: right; margin: 3px 6px;" height="394" width="262">A couple of years ago, <a href="">Sento-kun</a>, a half-deer, half-Buddha boy mascot, was chosen to represent the 1,300th anniversary of Japan's ancient capital being relocated to Nara. At first, the baby-faced boy with antlers (the deer is considered a sacred animal in Nara) <a href="">was not well-received</a>. Many found it ugly and disrespectful toward Buddha. Now, however, Sento-kun—designed by Satoshi Yabuuchi, a sculptor and professor at Tokyo University of the Arts—is being praised by Nara authorities for the amount of attention that he has brought to the city. <br></p> <p><a href="" target="_blank">read more</a></p> Buddha Japan Nara Random Notes Satoshi Yabuuchi Sento-kun Fri, 03 Dec 2010 18:08:52 +0000 Sam Mowe 39804 at