This thread will have similar themes to Bolivia II: Mountains, Nature, Wildlife and focuses on three areas in Japan. Outside the city of Nagano is a range of mountains home to the Japanese Macaque. The area has some geothermal activity and hotsprings. It's said the monkeys started entering the springs in the 60s and now the hot water is integrated into their culture. The monkeys use the hot springs to warm up in the winter and the dominant males treat the hot tubs as their territory, allowing females to come bathe but aggressively defending against other males. Really not too different from us. Anyway, it was a riot to watch the monkeys play in the water and snow. The monkey that looks pissed is because a woman kept throwing rocks at it so she could take its picture. There are a few shots from the nearby mountain temples and small village. The second locale featured is the city of Matsuyama. Located in the south of Japan, Motsuyama also has hot springs (these are for humans only). There are a few shots from the surrounding southern islands and temples. The third place shown is just outside Tokyo, a place called Kamakura (sp?). It is a popular shrine to visit during the new year. The trains from Tokyo were packed with locals heading out to visit the temples in the city.
To put you in the mood here is some relaxing Japanese music so you can get steamy with some naked bathing monkeys.
Great set! Those monkeys sure are amazingly intelligent creatures. Japan's nature and culture are so beautiful, I can feel the serenity and divinity in these photos.
The Japanese macaque pictures are truly amazing, great job! They almost 'stole the show' from the other fine pictures! I don't think I've ever seen photos of a young Japanese macaque.
Thanks all. Yeah, I liked the monkeys. The shots were harder than I thought as there is just one main spring the monkeys hang out it. When I was there in the morning I'd guess there were at least 10 other photographers. Difficult to get shots of the monkeys with no humans in the background. I haven't done much shooting in the cold but after about an hour my fingers were so numb I was having problems operating my camera.
I never did figure out how the monkeys transitioned from the hot tub to the cold air. At some point they would have to go through a cold drying process. I only saw ones that were fully dry or wet in the spa.
Fantastic, I love the monkey shots, really sharp. You seem to have a thing for wildlife shots, you are really good at it. Which one's were from kamakura? I couldn't recognise it here.
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