Research Adventures in Japan Chapter 8: Swinging in Toward the Finish Line

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 Konichiwa and thanks for sticking with me until week 8! I will be flying out of the country next Thursday so there will only be one more update!

Research Update 
We continue working with the chimpanzees but they are less interested in the tasks than the other species. We have started preparing to test gibbons, another ape species. Gibbons are really interesting because they are the most speciose ape genus (~16 species) and they are the only one that uses brachiation (swinging from arm to arm -- they'd be awesome at monkey bars!) as their main mode of travel. So they don't get in the way, their thumbs are very small.

A siamang infant and her parents. JMC

Within the same family as gibbons are siamangs. They're built very similarly to gibbons but are larger and have throat sack that help them sing! The main topic of their songs "It's my territory and I can cry if I want to" or something like that...The main purpose of their songs is to establish their territory though!

Nagoya Castle and Honmaru Palace
This week I visited Nagoya Castle and the Honmaru Palace. The castle was commissioned by Tokugawa Ieyasu after his victory at Sekigahara (see week 6's blog for a refresher) and the palace was later commissioned by his son who was lord of the castle. Both the castle and palace are reconstructions since the originals were burned down during WWII air raids in 1945. The castle has a steep base, a labyrinth of walls and gates and use to be surrounded by a moat. The palace, was where lords were received so it was full of luxury to impress the wealth and power of its lord on visitors.


Top left: A corner of the palace and view of the castle. Bottom Left: Artwork of birds in the one of the hallways -- there were panels like this as you approached the lord's chambers. Bottom Right: Room where the lord of the palace would stay.


Food Update
This week's update was pretty short and I realized I hadn't posted about the food in a while! So here's some interesting, cute, and new (to me!) foods I've enjoyed.

The above are all foods from various shops from the Inuyama Castle Town area. Left: Agemochi (fried mochi -- the little dark square is seaweed). Top Center: Hida beef sushi. Top Right: Cake in a can. Bottom Center: Salmon roll, Casesar salad, and pork pate on a stick. Bottom Right: Peach fluffy ice.

Top Left: One of my favorite chains in Japan is Sukiya. This meal included gyudon (beef simmered in a savory-sweet sauce on top of rice), miso, a salad, and an egg for ~$6 USD. Top Center: Chocolate and caramel cake from a patisserie by the train station. Top Right: Takoyaki (octopus cut into pieces, fried, and covered in soy sauce and/or mayo). Bottom Left: Soft serve ice cream with strawberries and granola. Bottom Center: Steak, veggies, and a beef patty with garlic sauce. Bottom Right: Strawberry shortcake with cat (neko) cookie from the same patisserie as the other featured cake!

Next week: Gibbon data collection -- will they cooperate unlike the chimps?! Conveyor belt sushi. A night in Nagoya. A trip and research experience in review. Any requests or questions?!

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


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