Research Adventures in Japan Chapter 5: The Old World

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 Konichiwa and welcome to my 5th update!


Project Update

We collected data from 5 more individuals this week! Three Japanese macaques and two mandrills. Both of these species are considered Old World Monkeys (OWM). Another thing both of these species share is red coloration driven by sexual selection -- so males in both species who have redder skin are preferred by females and are more dominant in social groups. However, the blue color of male mandrills is yet to be explained. Their coloration is so striking that Charles Darwin wrote in his The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex, "no other member in the whole class of mammals is coloured in so extraordinary a manner as the adult male mandrill". There is one famous mandrill for us 90's kids, and that's Rafiki from The Lion King (if you're one of those folks who think he's a completely made up monkey, look at the live action version -- he's definitely a mandrill).

A male mandrill from JMC -- just look at that handsome face!

Local Highlights

This week I went to two museums and a Buddhist Temple that were right here in Inuyama. The first museum was the Inuyama Cultural History Museum. Pictures weren't allowed throughout most of the building but the big draw is the recreation of the castle town. They also had cultural artifacts such as pottery, weaponry, samurai armor, and portions of the original castle.

Recreation of Inuyama Castle town -- so big I couldn't fit it in one frame!

The second museum was the Karakuri Exhibition Museum. Karakuri puppets are mechanized dolls that are used on stage and in floats. The mechanization allows the dolls to do acrobatics, serve tea, and play instruments.

Karakuri dolls -- sorry for the glare! Top: Several serving dolls. Bottom: a doll that can write!

My final visit was to the Buddhist Temple, Daishoji Temple. There were A LOT of steps but the top had wonderful views of the city, including the castle. Daishoji Temple is known for sending prayers for drivers. Also, I think here is the best spot to make a correction to last week's post, I said the Shinto shrine I visited had canine guardians but they were foxes, which is more typical of Shinto religious sites. Buddhist sites tend to have lion dogs, Komainu, which also aren't canines because they're lions.

Top: View of Inuyama Castle from the top of Daishoji Temple. Center: Gate at the base of the temple. Bottom: the main temple. The center structure is where incense is placed before moving forward to pray.


Next week: Sekigahara (battlefield & museum) & possibly starting work with chimpanzees

Research is funded by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science.

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