Skip to main content

Nagano, Day Two: Snow Monkeys!

Image
By







The next day (12/27) we traveled to a little mountain town and trekked into a part of an extended valley named Jigokudani Koen, or Hell's Valley Park, named for its resplendent hot springs that boil away even in frigid temperatures.  It was gorgeous, although we did get a lot of snow dumped on our heads along the way.










We went to this snowy, steamy place with one objective: seeing Japanese Macaques, or Snow Monkeys.  These monkeys live in the mountains and come down to bathe in the hot springs almost every day.  In the winter they are very fluffy in their heavy coats.  There were monkeys of all ages jostling each other for space in the springs and the food the park workers put out at noon.

Here are a few of the best pictures of the monkeys in the springs.  You can see all the little family groups among the larger group.  These monkeys are all part of one pack.  There are about 200 of them at present.  There's always an alpha male, who gets his picture displayed in the park entrance lodge.  I'm sure we saw the alpha, but I don't know which one he was.


I paid much more attention to the baby monkeys, as you can see from these photos and the video.  The young ones were interesting to watch as they pawed through the snow, moving snowballs around to search for food, or (in one particularly cute display) playing on ropes.  As these monkeys are closely related to humans, we continuously noted physiological and behavioral similarities between, say, middle school students and these rambunctious creatures.




An old train at Obuse

After seeing the monkeys we hopped back on the train towards Nagano and stopped at Obuse, a quiet, artistic town known for chestnut confections.  We first visited an Ukiyo-e Museum (woodblock prints) dedicated to Katsushika Hokusai, a famous painter of the Edo era.  Hokusai came to Obuse in 1844, when he was 85, and lived out his life as an artist-in-residence painting temple ceilings and festival floats.  We loved it so much we're planning a pilgrimage to Matsumoto to see another such museum. 

After the museum, we went across the street to indulge in chestnut treats.  I ate wonderful, fresh ice cream with chestnut pieces in it that was unbelievable.  Matt ate a chestnut baked into a green tea cake, and a few little chestnut candy treats.  We both had the most delicious apple juice, fresh-pressed from Nagano Prefecture.  We paid for our pleasure a bit more than we're used to, but it was worth it.
Labels:
Location: Yamanouchi

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

To Live in the Moment Without Fear

By
To Live in the Moment Without Fear  is a work by Yuko Shinoda from Gifu, Japan.  Danced by six women, the dance investigates what it means to be a part of a community threatened by a disaster that takes a life.  Premiered June 5th 2011 in Nagoya, Japan, the dance features a strong movement aesthetic that draws from traditional Japanese dance as well as contemporary styles and contact improvisation.  Shinoda's use of space and timing, as her dancers flow in-and-out of solos, duets, trios, and unison, creates a sense that the dancers are unified and alone at the same time.  In the end, Shinoda's view of life is clear: we must tend to the fallen, but we must never surrender ourselves to fear while we are still alive.
3 comments
Read more

Yokohama, Day Four: Roppongi Hills and Shibuya

By
We met Nik's girlfriend, Megumi, for an amazing lunch on the way to Roppongi Hills, where we met up with her friend Misa. Roppongi Hills is an incredibly upscale shopping district in Tokyo, even more upscale than the Ginza. I couldn't afford to look at the stores. We passed by a German-influenced illumination display, honoring 150 years of German-Japanese friendship. It was really beautiful and seemed traditional (I'm going to run it by my German friend to test its authenticity).  In the first two pictures you can see Japanese people chowing down on dark lager and brats, as well as a lovely carved statue with figurines and candles that constantly turned on a podium. Misa was hungry so we got her a lunch snack, and when Matt saw a bagel place he succumbed to his Jewishness. Pictured is his bagel with cream cheese and lox, which he ate in the face of Christmas with Nik. Roppongi Hills also has many beautiful sculptures, including a giant spider of which I didn'...
Post a Comment
Read more

Gamagori Fireworks Festival

By
Takeshima, at low tide. Every year, on the last day of July, a big fireworks festival is held in Gamagori, Japan.  Fireworks are very big in Japan, with each major city priding itself on its particular display, and swearing up and down to anyone who will listen that their fireworks are the best in the nation.  Gifu's displays were canceled this year because of the earthquake, so we took the opportunity to travel a little more than an hour by express train to Gamagori.  It's a cute little town, not far from Okazaki, with a famous island that is entirely shrine space (seen in the picture to the right). It was a wonderful, if long, day.  Four of us set out from Gifu and picked two more friends up on the way to the island.  We arrived early, perhaps too early, but we did miss the worst of the afternoon sun as we wandered around the island.  Even though I was very diligent about my SPF 50 sunblock, I still managed to get burned on both shoulders before the...
1 comment
Read more