Monkey Seeing

The Buddhist monkeys I met in Arashiyama believe in the axiom, "See no evil, speak no evil, hear no evil," or so I like to think after seeing this buddhist statuette at a temple nearby. 

As you may remember, the first time I went to Arashiyama was with my Environmental class--my professor's treat. We got to see Tenryu-ji temple and eat traditional bento boxes to decide whether or not those traditions classified as world cultural heritage or not. 

Well, I went to Arashiyama again, just after the hatsuyuki (or first snow, visible on the top of the furthest mountain in the photograph above). But this time, I went to convene with nature, another cultural heritage.

Arashiyama has a world-famous "Monkey Park", and I was happy to discover that the park operates as a "reverse" zoo. If you want to feed them, it's the human behind bars, while the macaque is free to roam the wild mountains uninhibited. 

I had so much fun feeding a banana through the bars to countless little guys, watching their expressions change and getting to know each of their personalities (as much as what little time I spent there would allow).

Needless to say, I thought it was a beautiful social experience, and I enjoyed wandering around outdoors, too, where they roam freely. As you can see, from the Monkey Park in Arashiyama, these Japanese Macaques have a veritable penthouse view of Kyoto.

In this prime real estate, they groom one another, little ones growing up while still clinging to their mother's bellies, and lounging in trees of beautiful changing colors.

I was surprised by how far their territory stretched. Even as i descended the mountain into the town, I heard the tell-tale rustling in the canopy above of a lone monkey scaling the tree-tops. It made me happy that despite human interference on their lives, they feel comfortable living so close. 

After the Monkey Park, I spent just a little time wandering around Arashiyama. I didn't have much time there, because it was a weekend filled with homework, but I was happy to be able to see the bamboo forests, the quintessential view of Arashiyama and certainly one of its biggest attractions. 

Yet just walking around, I felt a little suffocated by the tourist trap that was Arashiyama. I appreciated being able to see it, and see it more than once, but I couldn't help but be more drawn to the quiet out-of-the-way places, like this summit view of the Kamogawa river running through a nearby valley. 

Still, the whole excursion was a quick reminder of why I'm so thankful to have spent an entire semester in Japan, as opposed to just a few days of more superficial travel. Arashiyama is one of the most visited places in all of Japan, with all of it's "rural" draw from Kyoto, the next well-traveled area behind Tokyo. So if I had come to Japan for just a few days, Arashiyama very well could've been all of the Japanese rural charm I got to see. But I got to see so much more, as you'll find out in my next post about my best ever solo adventure!