Research Adventures in Japan Chapter 9: A Summer Well Spent
Konichiwa and sorry for the MAJOR delay in my final update. For some reason it took me a bit longer to adjust to being back than it did for me being gone!
Research Update
We collected data from pileated and white-handed gibbons. They quickly became one of my favorites (I don't think they overtook ring-tailed lemurs but it's a solid tie!)! These gentle apes were full of curiosity and personality. We had storms come through during data collection two of the days and not a single of the seven gibbons I worked with would stay out in the rain with me for some peanuts. Every single one of them retreated to the trees while I got soaked! They were a great species for me to end my research on but we're hoping the study will continue with the help of current JMC staff and future students! It was so great working Drs. Hayahsi, Tomonaga, Shintaku, plus all of the great staff at the JMC, so thank you so much to all of them!!!
This was one of the first buildings I saw when I got into Inuyama. Although it's called "Monkey Pharmacy," the logo is unmistakably a gibbon and I don't have new gibbon pics from last week, so thought this was a good way to end with a picture of the first primate I saw in Japan...
My last weekend in Japan I took a day trip to Takayama which is a popular tourist town in the Hida region. This is a really mountainous region of Japan and the train ride offered gorgeous views! My first stop was the Hida Folk Village (Hida no Sato) which is an outdoor museum with various traditional buildings from the region. I also went to several shrines and temples and walked through the historical downtown area.
Top Left: View upon entering Hida no Sato with prominent mountains labelled. Top Right: Kimono made by a local. Many of the buildings had local artisans performing their craft; including a kimono weaver! Bottom Left: A grass-roofed farmhouse. Throughout the museum information on maintenance and care for these buildings were given. For example, the grass-roof buildings regularly have fires burning in them to minimize pests and mold. Bottom Right: Ema are pictures of horses that are offered to shrines and temples instead of real horses. Ema could be prayed to for good harvests and health of livestock. In farmers' houses it was thought to bring luck if facing outside since that's where the livestock were kept. Meanwhile, in merchants' homes ema were hung facing inside because they were thought to bring luck in.
Top Left: The gate to Daoi-ji Temple. Bottom Left: Higashiyama Hakusan Shrine worship hall. Center: The Great Gingko of Hida Kokobun-ji is thought to be 1,200 years old! Right: Steps leading back down from Higashiyama Hakusan Shrine.
Nagoya Trip and Last Days in Inuyama
The last week, Elaine and I took another trip to Nagoya for dinner and some walking around. I also tried new restaurants during the last couple of weeks.
Top and Bottom Left: Kura Conveyor Belt sushi. Not my favorite sushi but fun! Top Right: Yappari Steak -- you select your cut and size of steak and get all-you-can-eat salad, soup, and rice. Bottom Right: Pork katsu breaded to look like a flower -- still crispy and no weird flavor.
Kyoto City
My last day I took the shinkansen (bullet train) to Kyoto. I went to Kyoto City Zoo and received a tour from one of the researchers, Dr. Yamanashi. They had a really neat research set up in which chimps can decide to come into a room and participate in cognitive research when they want to. Dr. Yamanashi has been working on research that explores how watching video can be enriching for chimps, especially young ones. After the zoo, I walked around the city some and saw many shrines and temples.
Top Left: Shoren Temple gardens. Top Right: Inside a Buddhist temple -- worship was taking place so got to hear monks chant/sing. Bottom Left: giraffe at Kyoto City Zoo. Bottom Right: Turtle at Kyoto City Zoo -- look at that smirk for the camera!
A Trip in Review
I had a really great time site-seeing and doing research in Japan. If you're interested in going, you should definitely check the country out! Even if you don't know Japanese, there were a good number of people who spoke English and accommodations for non-Japanese speakers (maps in both languages; menus heavy in pictures). Plus, there's something for everyone! I focused a lot on animals and history because that's what I'm interested in but there's a lot more modern culture to experience, especially if you're in the bigger cities.
Highlights:
Favorite day-trip: Sekigahara -- Although small, the museum was one of the nicest I've seen and it's in a beautiful region. Plus, the sushi was the best I've had and I had a lot of fun meeting locals!
Favorite new food: I'm going to say the flower pork-katsu just because I was little a concerned with the colored breading on meat so avoided it for weeks...I'm really upset I waited until the last week to try it...
Best Research Experience: I loved getting to watch animal researchers who have been at the job for decades interact with their "subjects" -- every time they'd light up, especially when seeing favorites they had worked with before. It was especially fun when the chimps would initiate play behavior with Dr. Hayashi. Also, having a squirrel monkey parkour off my shoulder the first week was pretty great.
Thing I'll miss most: Getting to see Inuyama Castle at least for part of my walk no matter where I was going. I know it's an American stereotype to be enamored with "old stuff" but there's not a ton of surviving historical buildings on the plains.
Place I most want to revisit: JMC (because macaques and bonfires) but also Takayama. It would be really fun to have a long weekend or week to hike around the region.
Favorite animal to see for the first time: I'm going to avoid the ~30+ primate species I'd never seen before and go with Tanuki (Japanese racoon dogs) 
With that, I'm going to have say sayonara and thank you so much for following along for nine weeks! Hopefully, you learned something new or at least had fun following my research and adventures!
Research was funded by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science. Thank you to them yet again!!!
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