The other day I read an article on SoraNews24 about the Japanese macaques. I'm partly fascinated and partly creeped out by these wild monkeys. In the US, I can see monkeys in the zoo. In Japan, I have seen these creatures while hiking on Yakushima and in the onsen in Nagano Prefecture. Both times I was very excited to see them.
My Japanese friends and my students take monkeys for granted, after all, the wild monkeys are all over Japan. Almost! The SoraNews24 article said the wild monkeys can be found in 44 prefectures, but not in the other three. Can you guess which three? If you guessed Hokkaido and Okinawa for two of them, you are correct. Those two are at the far ends of Japan, so that seems logical. The third one with no monkeys is Ibaraki.
Ibarki is central and the prefectures surrounding Ibaraki have monkeys, but not Ibaraki. Why? Maybe there aren't enough trees, or maybe monkeys don't like natto (fermented soybeans), which Ibaraki is famous for. Maybe there are predators, like wild boars? What do you think? Another Japanese mystery...
From Matsumoto I took a train, a bus, and walked to get to this point.
After getting to the entrance to the park, there is a steep uphill climb. It seems like everything in Japan is uphill!
Finally! The snow monkeys!
Monkeys everywhere seem to be picking bugs off each other, even when they are in the onsen.
See the paper cup in the yellow pack? A monkey came out of the onsen and attacked the cup! The man with the big camera was able to get his pack away from the monkey. They kind of look like people, but they are wild animals.
There were lots of foreign tourists at the monkey park. One of my students told me that Japanese people can see monkeys all over Japan, so this isn't such a novelty for them.
Food is thrown out on the snow to keep the monkeys around the onsen area.
After seeing Matsumato Castle, I spent the night at Southern Cross Inn. It was inexpensive, conveniently located, clean, and had a buffet breakfast included in the cost.
My next adventure was all about the monkeys. The Snow Monkeys were made famous by the January 30, 1970 issue of Life Magazine. I wanted to see them for myself.
After breakfast, I headed to the train station and caught the local train to Nagano City.
At the Nagano Station I bought the One Day Snow Monkey Pass (3200 yen), which included the express bus to and from the Snow Monkey Park and the entrance fee to the park.
After getting off the bus, there is a little bit of a walk to get to the park, with signs along the walkway.
The pathway was a little slick, so I had to walk carefully.
This guy was just outside the park entrance.
As soon as I go through all my monkey photos, I'll have a post about the park.
