`Nihon saru` are part of everyday living in the small town of Mihama, in the south of Fukui Prefecture. I’ve had many encounters, from the monkeys “having sex in front of my apartment complex” as my friend Kyle likes to recall, to them eating my plants and going through my neighbours garden for food throughout the year. After such a long relationship with these creatures, I have decided to share some interesting facts on the Japanese Macaque.
The `Nihon Saru` are native to the islands of Japan.

• The Japanese Macaque lives throughout Japan, from the subtropical lowlands to the subalpine regions. It is the only monkey in the world to live so far north, living in latitudes of approximately 40 to 30 degrees north of the equator. Also, being found in areas approximately 30 to 40 degrees north of the equator means it is necessary for them to adapt to large seasonal changes. They can face temperatures from 5 degrees Fahrenheit (-15 degree celsius) and snow more than 1 meter deep during winter, to over 90 degrees Fahrenheit (over 30 degrees Celsius) in summer.
• The average body weight of the Japanese monkey is 11.3 kg (24.91 lb) and 8.4 kg (18.52 lb).
• There is a degree of sexual dimorphism between male and female Japanese macaques with the males weighing a bit more than the females and usually having a longer body length too.
• The diet of a Japanese monkey includes such things as vegetables, fruits, insects, bark, and even small animals.
• The Japanese monkeys have a lifespan of about 30 years of age.
• The female monkeys give birth to a single offspring.
• Upon reaching maturity, males will move from troop to troop.
• Female Macaque usually select mates very carefully, avoiding inbreeding with brothers, cousins, and even low ranking
• males who have not been part of the troops for long.
• Male snow monkeys usally lead the troops and also get first dibs on food.
• The females, however, are the backbone of the troops due to the fact that they stay in the same troop their entire lives.
• Mothers and daughters stay in the same troops while males come and go.
• Females usually pass down their status in the troops to their daughters.
• Macaques often groom each other to strengthen their social bonds.
• Female macaques are ardent lesbians; the females mount each other. Much like grooming each other to strengthen their social bonds, in order to help maintain social networks, female macaques engage in same sex activitity. Behavioral scientist Paul Vasey has found that females will choose to mate with another female, as opposed to a horny male, 92.5% of the time. While this activity probably decreases reproductive success for macaques in the short term, in the long run it is clearly beneficial for the species, since it fosters social stability.
  “ Same-sex sexuality is just another way of maintaining physical intimacy,” Roughgarden says. “It’s like grooming, except we have lots of pleasure neurons in our genitals. When animals exhibit homosexual behavior, they are just using their genitals for a socially significant purpose.” (Lehrer,2006)
• By living in large troops that range from 10 monkeys up to more than 100, macaques learn and share information with each other, such as which foods are good to eat.
• The Japanese macaques often times invent new behaviors and pass them on through imitation, which shows that animals other than humans can have culture. These learned behaviors are often passed down from generation to generation. It is one of the reasons as to why the Nagano monkeys have the learned behavior to go into hot springs during the winter season.
• They are known for being one of the only animals, other than humans and raccoons that wash their food. (For more information regarding this, google: Koshima Monkey Imo)
• Like people, they can have different accents depending on the different regions they live in.
• These monkeys are thought to be the inspiration behind the proverb ‘see no evil, hear no evil and speak no evil’.悪因悪果 akuin akka. ( The three monkeys are Mizaru, covering his eyes, who sees no evil; Kikazaru, covering his ears, who hears no evil; and Iwazaru, covering his mouth, who speaks no evil )

Now that you know so much about these monkeys, where do you go see them? It so happens that these monkeys can be seen all over, particularly、in the south of Fukui. However, if you would prefer
to enjoy them in a controlled environment, here are some popular monkey parks that you could check out on your free time.

JIGOKUDANI MONKEY PARK (地獄谷野猿公苑 Jigokudani Yaen Kōen) is in Yamanouchi, Shimotakai District, Nagano Prefecture, Japan. It is part of the Joshinetsu Kogen National Park, and is located in the valley of the Yokoyu-River, in the northern part of the prefecture.
IWATAYAMA MONKEY PARK (Japanese: 嵐山モンキーパーク, Arashiyama Monkī Pāku) is a commercial park located in Arashiyama in Kyoto, Japan. The park is on Mt Arashiyama, on the same side of the Oi River as the train station.