A juvenile Japanese Macaque (Macaca fuscata), colloquially referred to as a Snow Monkey, grasps a twig, takes a nibble, and connects with its inner thoughts, Jigakudani Monkey Park, Nagano Prefecture, Japan.
The word 'Jigakudani' apparently translates to 'Valley of Hell', due to the abundance of steaming and spouting geothermal features, cold winters, and steep and sustained topographic relief. The fact that these primates are able to call such difficult country 'home', and were evolutionarily able to survive the winter unaided but by their wits, suggests something of their character. These remarkable little beings are also over twice as strong as an adult human male at maturity. This primate lives further north and survives colder temperatures than all other primates save one - us, Homo sapiens.
In modern times, the troop that lives at the Jigakudani Onsen, known for its affinity for the warm pools in the dead of winter, has discovered a new and less fraught way of making it through the hard, food-less and bitter cold season. This troop has found that if it can basically ignore humans and their cameras and cell phones, it will be fed by Park employees enough to comfortably make it through the winter. The menu? Apples, barley, daikon, carrots, etc. In addition, if the Wise Primate tourists can learn to not disrespectfully touch (would you want to be groped by monkeys? No, probably not), avoid bringing food out into the open, and avoid carrying plastic bags (which these monkeys associate with food), all will be well, and you will be allowed to photograph primates in the wild without fear of inter-species conflict. In turn, the monkeys remain relaxed enough to bathe, squabble, groom, nurse, defecate, and so on, although doing so with a huge crowd of Wise Primate gawkers, selfie-takers, photographers, and general human doofuses.
I came away after spending several hours with our monkey hosts with a sense of appreciation. Appreciation for the way that different animal species can work together to get their needs met in a world that requires teamwork to survive. Our needs: To feel a connection to more than just our own kind, which not that long ago was the only way to live. Their needs: To make it through the forbidding winter while keeping the newest born alive. I also came to the slow appreciation of how useless zoos could become if we, the Wise People, could learn to not jail our kindred species quite the way that we have. What if we created vibrant ecosystems for them to live in? And we could come visit them because they'd learn eventually that they could trust us, because we had finally learned to become trustworthy.
I hope to get caught up with people's work soon! It's been too long... In addition to traveling, I also was paid a visit by infectious bacterially-driven gastro-intestinal distress for the week after we returned. I felt truly as magical as the image that conjures. Adding jet lag and having to go back to work, it was quite a week. Yep, still first world problems.
Tags: Japanese Macaque Jigokudani Jigokudani Monkey Park National Park Valley of Hell animal macaque monkey portrait primate snow monkey wild animal wildlife Shimotakai District Nagano Prefecture Japan JP
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Autumn maples and exposed branches reflect on the surface of a lily-studded pond in the heart of the Imperial Gardens, Tokyo, Japan. The intersection of surface lily patterns, branches, leaves, and ripples is like a Monet, to my eye.
I was wandering under the eaves of some tall trees at the edge of the water features when I happened to glance toward one of the ponds right as the light shifted. I couldn't quite believe it was real, but I imagine some clever master gardener mind knew a viewer might see this very scene some years into the future...
I hope folks are enjoying the week so far! Family will be visiting in a couple weeks, and I'm looking forward to seeing everyone and cooking some holiday turkey molé tamales. I grew the corn this summer for making the tamale dough, and I also want to bake some squash and apple pies, make a few sourdough boules, and smoke some coho. Pot pies sound like an awfully tempting idea as well. It might be nice to do some photography in the Park too. Not working is grand, isn't it?
Tags: Imperial Garden Japan Japanese garden Ninomaru Garden Tokyo autumn fall color golden leaves light painting reflection reflections water
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The tendril-like branches of a Japanese White Birch (Betula platyphylla) reflect in the perfectly still waters of a highland pond in the mountains outside Yamanouchi, Nagano Prefecture, Japan.
The previous day the weather was wonderful and sunny, so why didn't we see the monkeys when it snowed, and go up to the highlands the first day when it was sunny? Why, what a fine question, and it's perplexing that I have no answer. The upside of waiting until the first snow of the season to visit the mountains? A cold, foggy, snowing walk in the woods. It was an interesting way to first set foot in a place, when the landscape and plants are hiding much of their potential.
Tags: Japan Landscape Nagano Prefecture Winter birch branches clouds fog lake mist pond reflection reflections snow snow clouds tree tree branches water
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Two fully-grown female Japanese Macaque monkeys (Macaca fuscata) examine their thoughts as they pause between bouts of grooming in front of autumn leaves in Jigakudani Monkey Park, Nagano Prefecture, Japan.
The facial skin changes from greyish tan to bright red as individuals pass through various phases of hormonal maturation. The posterior and genitals are also bright red and in full view as they move around, as their tails are very short. Quite a few of the individuals I saw had fairly serious wounds on ears, face, hands, etc. and it seems that quite a few squabbles are resolved forcefully. I also noticed that mothers with babies were particularly wary of certain males, and would scatter as quickly as possible with the newborn clinging tightly to the underside of her torso when these males approached. Life did not seem dull, at the very least, but perhaps a bit stressful.
Tags: Japanese Macaque Jigokudani Jigokudani Monkey Park National Park Valley of Hell animal autumn autumn leaves fall color golden leaves macaque monkey portrait primate snow monkey wild animal wildlife
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A grouping of Japanese White Birch (Betula platyphylla) lift naked branches into the fog and snow of autumn's first storm in the Jigokudani Mountains, Nagano Prefecture, Japan.
We stayed for a few days in the mountains Northeast of Nagano, near where the winter Olympics were held in 1998. I planned a glorious all-day hike in autumn sun. Combining plans with mountain weather is apparently a fool's enterprise... Going up even higher was obviously pointless since one would be enshrouded in cloud for every moment of the effort. So we turned around and walked down-mountain instead, through meadows fringed with birch forests and bracken that gave way to cypress and a low bamboo-like plant that dominated the understory. Snow gathered quietly in the creases as we walked. The breath hung like dense smoke before becoming one with the freezing mist.
Tags: Betula Betula platyphylla Japan Japanese White Birch Jigokudani Landscape Nagano Prefecture Winter birch clouds fog mountains silhouette snow snow clouds snow storm snowscape trees Shimotakai District JP
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