Back to Japan - Day 7: The Snow Monkeys of Jigokudani

I'd first seen pictures of the monkeys a few years ago - they were quite striking: bathing in the hot springs, flakes of snow glistening on their fur, steam rising around them, looking quite serene (and very human). When we decided to go back to Japan earlier this summer I had a Google to see if it might be feasible to visit them in this warm, rainy season. I had previously had no idea where abouts they were, and discovered that while it was a bit of an effort to get there, in the mountains up from Nagano (part of the Japanese Alps), it was actually quite possible. I also found out that they were there all year round, because the park rangers continue to feed them, summer or winter (and they add cold water to the spring so it's not too hot!).

We set off early, in a light drizzle, catching the first bus to the park from the station at Yudanaka, a stone's throw from our ryokan; we wanted to be there by the time the park opened at 8.30am. The bus trundled slowly up the hill, through the Shibu-Kanbayashi onsen area, before pulling in to a car park from where we had to walk a little way. There was a small uphill bit to start followed by a pretty flat path through trees to reach the park entrance; information about the park and the macaques lined the route. Mist clung to the trees and hills in the distance and it drizzled slightly, but the trees kept most of the rain at bay.

After half an hour or so of easy walking we arrived at the entrance, where we paid a small fee. From there it was a short walk to the monkey park, set along a river valley, surrounded by densely wooded hillsides, which were obscured by mist and low cloud. We saw our first monkey perched precariously on a log, bundled up in a ball, clutching a baby. The monkey's hair was frizzy from the drizzle.

We wandered down across the bridge to the hot spring, which was a lot smaller than I'd expected, as well as a lot more man-made. There weren't many monkeys around, just a few huddled together, still snoozing, looking quite adorable.

Soon the ranger appeared and scattered some grain from a bucket; that brought the macaques out immediately. Suddenly the place was overrun with monkeys of all ages, jumping around, picking up each piece of grain and popping it into their mouths, one-by-one. The ranger walked down along the riverside and the monkeys followed, trying to get as much of the grain as possible.

After a while it calmed down a little and then some monkeys went into the spring to relax. They looked as I'd imagined, but their fur glistened with drizzle instead of snowflakes. They looked very serene, thoughtful and human. They were very tame and seemed not to care at all about the photographers and tourists who were now milling around them. We were able to get very close and they just moved around us as if we weren't there.

From time to time there would be a squabble and one monkey would try to bite another, with loud screeches echoing around the valley. One of the fighters would give in and run away, so the fights never lasted very long.

There were lots of newborn babies around, mostly clutching desperately to their mothers' teats, which stretched with them as they moved.

There were also quite a few juveniles. A few of them decided to play around in the spring, with one of them seeming to take utter delight in jumping in, splashing the others, then getting out again and dive-bombing the others again, before trying to dunk them under. Others climbed delicately off the wall and stepped into the spring. The water seemed to sting their eyes, but they kept going back in for more.

There was a lot of picking and preening going on too, both inside and out of the spring, although the edge of the spring seemed to be the favourite spot of most of the macaques - having a nice hot bath while someone else had a good pick and got rid of all the bugs.

After an hour and a half the hubby had got bored, so he decided to get the bus back to the ryokan, leaving me to spend a couple more hours photographing the monkeys. I was glad to stay - I could've stayed there for days! I found the games and fights and grooming all fascinating. Some of the monkeys were quite distinctive-looking and different from the others. I watched babies cling to their mothers' backs as she took a dip; the babies struggled to keep their heads above the water, but the mother didn't seem to care.

Eventually I tore myself away, feeling a little cold, damp, dehydrated and monkeyed-out, haven't spent at least an hour watching one particular macaque. The place had got busier during the morning but the crowds drifted away towards lunchtime as the rain became more persistent.

I wandered back down the path and stopped along the way to take some photographs of the pretty trees, the mist still lingering in the distance. Most of the trees were dense fir trees, but occasionally the monotony of the forest would be broken up by a flash of new green deciduous leaves.

I checked my watch and realised that I was about to miss the bus - the next one was a couple of hours later and the walk back downhill into town would've taken quite a while - so I ended up running down the hill to the car park. I was also a little unsure exactly where the bus stop was, as there were two. Fortunately I just made the bus and was glad to get back to the dry of the ryokan. The rest of the day was a lazy one, spent looking through hundreds of pictures of monkeys (and the obligatory visit to the onsen downstairs). We went out in search of somewhere different for dinner and headed down some steep steps to a different part of the village. We found one place that was open and had a few bits and pieces, but it wasn't particularly great food. We had another early night before heading off the next morning on our journey to Tokyo. It was a time-consuming little detour but it was definitely worth the effort. 

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Back to Japan - Day 6: A Rainy Travel Day

Some days travelling are just plain dull, and this was one of them. Day six in Japan involved a number of train rides to get to Yudanaka, the starting point for visiting the famous snow monkeys. We'd left the decision of where to spend the next two nights until the last minute (everything else was booked), as we wanted to see what the weather-forecast was. As it turned out it was pretty dreadful everywhere, with rain or drizzle, and so we decided that monkeys in the rain would be more fun than another town in the rain. I booked a cheap-ish ryokan online (they're never really cheap) and we headed off on our journey. There were various routes possible, all involving at least 2 changes of train. We decided to take the northern route on the Shinkansen, which went north and north-east from Kyoto to Kanazawa then along the coast for a while before heading south down to Nagano, from where we then had to take a local line to Yudanaka.

We had to wait a short while at Kyoto station, which is quite striking architecturally. Quite good people-watching too.

Once on the train I was rather disappointed with the view. The train seemed to be passing through some great scenery, but we kept disappearing into tunnels, obscuring most of the view. I tried to take some photos, but invariably a pylon would get in the way. I was surprised at how built up it was, but there were plenty of rice paddies everywhere too. 

Eventually we pulled into Kanazawa where we changed trains. We had a little time so hubby went in search of an ATM. I took some photos of a huge arch just outside the station, which is quite something. Nearby was a fountain that spelt "welcome".

The next train was the newly extended Hokuriku Shinkansen (previously the line had run from Tokyo as far as Nagano, but in March 2015 it was extended to Kanazawa). Again, the scenery was disappointing - with some cloud-covered hills inland, but no view of the coastline along which we were travelling (not even a glimpse of the sea). We also passed some ugly factories, which reminded me of the dreadful nuclear disaster from 2011 on the opposite coast. 

Soon the train turned inland heading south towards Nagano. Again, most of the journey was inside tunnels; not what I was expecting at all when I was planning the route (had I gone the other way, via Nagoya, I think there might have been more to see, given the train is called "Wide View" - the one we were on was certainly not!). We ate some fried chicken that I'd bought in the station earlier - not our finest meal in Japan - washed down with some green tea, which was growing on me.

We pulled into Nagano and went downstairs to get the penultimate train (it turns out there were 3 changes, as the local train had another change, just outside of Yudanaka). I managed to snap a classic Shinkansen on my way.

The train up to Yudanaka was a slow commuter train, with endless stops. It took longer than the Shinkansen from Kanazawa, which was considerably further (about 8 times the distance!) passing more rice paddies and lots of orchards. On a clear day it would have been a rather picturesque journey.

We had to wait for another train to take us the last couple of stops, and finally we arrived at Yudanaka. It had been a rather slow journey, taking over 5 hours in total. Fortunately I'd booked us a ryokan close to the station, so we didn't have to prolong the journey much further. The place was nice enough, but pretty sparse, with the usual hard, thin futon on the floor, and a little low table with a pot of hot green tea to welcome us. It had a private onsen downstairs, so we were able to enjoy the onsen experience together, without having to do it separately.

The town was pretty deserted, and we struggled to find any of the restaurants open, but eventually found one place that was quite lively, where we ate some ramen noodles. We had an early night as I wanted us to be up in time for the first bus up to the monkey park at Jigokudani, a couple of miles up the road.

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Back to Japan - Day 5: The Wonderful Torii of Fushimi-Inari, Kyoto

Have been meaning to update my blog to complete my trip to Japan, but a new day-job has rather got in the way. So here, goes, back to Japan again!

It was our last day in Kyoto, and we planned to visit the Fushimi-Inari shrine in the morning and then head to Nara in the afternoon, but it didn't work out like that. We got up late instead and headed down to Fushimi-Inari in time for lunch! The entrance to the shrine was a street lined with the usual array of shops, stalls and restaurants. We passed one stall selling barbecued sparrow - didn't try it. Instead we had some ramen and tempura in one of the restaurants before heading up to the shrine. It was raining and the skies were not looking promising, but it was still a stunning place.

We wandered through the tunnels of torii and I tried to take a few photos, but there were just too many people in the way. Once we got to the end of the first major tunnel we stopped for a while and I set up my tripod.

We continued onwards and upwards and the crowds began to thin out. The shrine consists of a thousand or so torii gates that wind along paths up a hillside, with temples dotted around here and there. There were a few viewpoints from which you could see Kyoto sprawling out into the distance, the Shinkansen line snaking high above it through the middle of the city.

At the top was a large shrine with some strange red-dressed animal figures, not just the usual dogs.

As we wandered back down the hill we passed a man who was repainting the torii gates - some of them were a beautiful bright orange, others yet to be retouched were very faded. We also saw some incredibly cute kittens.

As we neared the bottom the crowds had all gone and it was far more pleasant; the rain had stopped too during our walk uphill. I found a couple of empty tunnels and set up the tripod again. One had a tiny puddle allowing reflections of the gates.

 When we got back to the entrance the sun came out briefly, bursting from behind thick clouds, shining a lovely pre-sunset light on the temples. I could only imagine how beautiful the torii tunnels looking with the low sunlight peaking through. A rainbow came for a few minutes. We walked back to the station, past a rather unusual building, and then took the train back towards home.

On the way home we decided to stop at a sake bar, underneath a hostel (the Jam Hostel), and made a selection of sakes to try - all a bit different and all delicious.

I tweeted a couple of photos and a very helpful person (@IncNaturalist) responded by recommending that we tried shabu shabu while we were in Kyoto. I hadn't heard of it before, so looked it up online (fortunately the sake bar had free wifi), found a recommendation for a restaurant and we headed there. We were not disappointed!

The place we found was Agotsuyu Shabu Shabu Yamafuku. We were led upstairs to a room where we sat on the floor on tatami mats (there was room for your legs under the table) and the delightful host talked us through the whole process. We ordered shabu shabu accompanied by some kyushu rokku.

Soon the man brought the first stage in the procedure: the flying fish. It was in a large bowl of clear broth that he placed on a burner in the middle of the table. It didn't look particularly appetising at this point. The man then plucked the fish out with large chopsticks and put it aside on a plate. "His work is done," he announced (this has to be one of the highlights of our trip to Japan - his work is done!). He then poured in some soy milk; again the dish wasn't looking promising. He then demonstrated how to eat shabu shabu - putting some thin pork in to the simmering broth, and the placing some cabbage leaves on top, then fishing it out and eating it altogether, dipped in some soy. The pièce de résistance was the addition of yuzukushu, a citrusy spicy paste, to the dipping sauce - absolutely made the dish! We worked our way through the slices of pork and finished off by adding fresh soba noodles to the broth. The whole thing was fantastic, tasty and fun; the waiter (who was also the owner) just made it a really great experience!

We called it a night after that, picking up a little sake for a nightcap back at the hotel; the end of a great few days in Kyoto - a fantastic city full of incredible food and culture.