We were told that the monkeys are fed in the wild at Mt. Takasaki, and that we would be entering a place where they live in their natural state, without cages. There are no cages, of course! Is that like going into a safari park without a car? I was a little nervous.

But in fact, all the monkeys were gentle and kind, and did not threaten me even if I made eye contact with them, which made me feel relieved. And the best part was seeing the baby monkeys! It was great to meet the baby monkeys! They were so cute and so relaxed.

Another exciting part of the tour was the “monkey crotch pass.
It is said that the more monkeys pass between your legs, the more good things will come to you, and the more monkeys pass between your legs, the more effective it will be. All visitors line up along the fence, standing with their legs close together and no space between them and the person next to them, and wait for the monkeys to pass through their legs. It was amazing to see so many monkeys coming out of nowhere toward the sweet potatoes they were feeding on! (I was able to get the monkey to pass through my crotch without incident!) ) It was a fun experience with my neighbor, who I met for the first time.

And speaking of Oita, chicken rice! We were lucky enough to procure some on our way hotel.(it was so good!)

On the way back, we stopped at a hot spring, and tomorrow we will go from the mountains to the sea to meet our marine friends at the neighboring “Oita Marine Palace Aquarium (Umitamago)”

Takasakiyama Natural Zoological Garden　https://www.takasakiyama.jp/en/