gwenonikki

Yai and I started our adventure by taking a bus from Tokyo to Nagano. Then we took a train to Yudanaka, and next a bus to the last stop. From there, we had to hike one and a half kilometres to our inn, which was right across the river from the monkey park (Jigokudani Yaen-Koen).

We decided we’d go to the park the next day, since we got to the inn late in the afternoon. En route to our rooms, we heard a crash outside. We assumed it was from the construction going on. The guy showing us the way opened the window to check. Two monkeys stared back at us. We hadn’t had to wait more than five minutes to see some!

Before supper, Yai and I went to the women’s outdoor bath. One minute we were talking and laughing in the steamy, smelly water and the next we were shouting. We thought a jumping monkey was coming in the bath with us, but he/she chose the neighbouring fence instead. The monkey gave us a disdainful look before turning to face the other way, making us realize that they didn’t mind being close but they weren’t going to try to join us. We also realized that behind the fence was a cover over the hot spring’s source. Its warmth guaranteed that we had lots of visitors. When we got out of the bath, we disturbed a sleeping monkey. He lazily lifted his eyelids, leaving his belly facing the sky, and his head and his arms thrown back over the cover’s edge. Too funny.

Although I had the best intention of trying the grilled grasshoppers at dinner, I must admit I was relieved when Yai said she doesn’t like them. I didn’t want to eat alone.

Then it was time for table tennis. We gave up trying to find the right room because we kept ending up in dark, dusty hallways. After asking, we were led down one of them by a guy from the inn. He had to change a flickering bulb before we could see that the ping-pong table shared a room with a computer server, a carnival-sized stuffed animal, two pairs of old train seats, and lots of cardboard boxes. The broken window, which was blamed on the monkeys, explained the room’s chilly temperature. But we got warm playing, and the crazy room only complemented our attire. We had on traditional robes from the inn.

The next morning, we arrived at the monkey park right after it opened. As we made our way down the trail, groups of monkeys also made their way down the opposite cliff. We were taken off guard when running monkeys started passing us. They were responding to a park ranger’s whistle. Apparently it was breakfast time. (I still don’t understand why the monkeys are fed, since they live in a national park. Guess it’s a good show for the tourists.)

I could hardly focus at first. I had prepared myself to see a few monkeys at best. But there were monkeys moving everywhere – jumping to rocks, reaching for food, craning their necks to drink from the river, grabbing babies, running to find a seat, some scrapping. It was a monkey frenzy. And they had no qualms about coming close to us while, at the same time, completely disregarding us.

When they finished eating, they just as quickly retreated to the very thing that makes the park famous. The hot spring. Japanese Macaque Monkeys are found throughout the country, but the monkeys at Jigokudani are the only ones that bathe in a hot spring.

All of a sudden they were docile. They preened each other. Some slept. And even though we had been told it was too early in the season for them to bathe, some did!

They are incredible. Their faces are so human. Wise, severe, gentle, angry, innocent, content. It was amazing to watch all of the emotions passing between them. A mother lovingly fed her baby. Another family cuddled. Adolescent monkeys mimicked their parents and boldly preened on their own. An older monkey cautiously surveyed things. A proud one caused a raucous with a bite. One looked like a loner. Another wore his great age resignedly.

I was totally intrigued until Yai ran up behind me and cried, “Wendy, monkey has your film!” Stupid me, I had left my camera bag open on a rock and gotten so caught up in taking pictures that I had moved pretty far away. Yai, a women, and I watched in disbelief as the monkey hopped up about three rocks with my canister of film in his back paw. Unexpectedly, he then hopped down to join some friends. Their attention made him loosen his grip, and the canister started to roll. The woman, who was closer, took a few steps forward and grabbed it. What a relief. The monkey may have opened it. May have choked on the lid. Who knows.

The cold forced us to go. Or rather, I clued in that we should go when I noticed Yai’s red, cold nose. I would have stayed and watched the monkeys for hours.

Our stopover in Nagano gave us enough time to see its famous temple – Zenkoji. I appreciated its austerity. Everything was black and brown, sedately adorned with linen banners that yellowed in the late afternoon sun.

By trying to take a picture of ourselves, Yai and I inadvertently beckoned three Japanese men to come over. They asked her where I was from, and then wisely said they like Canadians better than Americans. After taking our picture for us, one of them wouldn’t leave. He was determined to have his picture taken with me, which is funny considering that I’m the one who’s stuck with the silly shot. Note the vice-like grip I had to extract myself from.