Japanese Snow Monkeys

in #photography6 years ago (edited)

Happy New Year everyone !

Here are some photos from a shoot I took with the Japanese Macaques or Snow Monkeys. The shots were taken at the hot springs (or onsen) that feeds into the valley of the Yokoyu-River at Jigokudani Yaen Koen.

Literally meaning "Hell's Valley", Jigokudani was named after the steam and boiling water that bubbles out of small crevices in the frozen ground which is surrounded by steep cliffs. The valley sits at an elevation of 850 meters. Yamanouchi, Shimotakai District, Nagano Prefecture, Japan.

Other than humans the Macaque is the primate that lives in the coldest climate and survives in winter temperatures down to -15 °C. In japan the species is known as Nihonzaru.

In Shinto belief, mythical beasts known as raijū sometimes appeared as monkeys and kept Raijin, the god of lightning, company. The "three wise monkeys", which warn people to "see no evil, hear no evil, and speak no evil", are carved in relief over the door of the famous Tōshō-gū shrine in Nikkō.

Love to hear whats on everyone's bucket list for 2018?

Rob Downie
Love Life, Love Photography

All images in this post were taken by and remain the Copyright of Robert Downie - http://www.robertdowniephotography.com

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I am planning a trip to Japan, and this looks magical.
are the monkeys safe to be around? they seem very calm. They remind me of the monkey from Kubo.

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Since they're soaking in the "onsen" and relaxing, they're quite calm, but one should be careful around these monkeys.

It's best not to stare at them and not to approach them or make any sudden moves which they might interpret as threatening. As long as you keep your distance, you will most likely remain totally safe.

Monkeys are so fascinating. Thanks for this post :)

The eyes on that beautifull thing! You can almost see the emotions. love how you worked this post! great to see it. Kinda makes me want to take a steam bath myself! haha.


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Thanks. Very kind of you.

the faces are so expressive. would love to see snow monkeys in real life one day. great post

Very interesting !!!

Nice photos. I heard a story once about these monkeys enjoying salt on their sweet potatoes. Supposedly, they'd dig them up and when presented with a choice of freshwater (a stream, say) and saltwater (the sea, say), they'd head out to dip them in the sea before eating them.

Cool,eh?

Yes ; very cool!

Amazing pictures. Thanks for sharing.

Have a great day and stay blessed.

I love snow monkeys! These pictures are excellent. I've seen videos and people talk about the smell when you get there, was it particularly smelly?

Thanks. I don't remember it being particularly smelly (too cold to really smell anything). But I would not be going in for a swim with them ;-)

lol thats probably a good move. Could you touch them / did any of them play on your camera equipment? I know in some places they're very accustom to people.

I did not get close enough to touch them; they would probably take the equipment and throw it into the water !

Ugh I hope I can go see them some day, they sound hilarious and are awesome. Do you need to speak Japanese to navigate Japan or is it possible as an english speaker?

No you dont need to speak Japanese. There is a lot of english in Japan now.

wow amazing picture and nice post thanks for sharing happy new year god bless you

I always love photos of stuff you don't get to see very often... Great shoot! I'm a photographer that likes to take photos of animals too! You may enjoy my blog!

Thanks. Glad you like it .

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