When we were driving down to Cape Toi yesterday, we stopped at a 7-11 to get snacks. As I was enjoying my onigiri rice ball while standing next to the car, I looked up at the street sign, saw monkeys on the sign, and made the executive decision to stop at Kojima Island. I asked Joanna if this was the equivalent of stopping at the Spam Museum or the World’s Largest Ball of Twine back in Minnesota.
After we parked the car at the pier, I didn’t notice any boats around. I asked an old man running a small snack shop in my very unfluent Japanese what time the boat will be back. He crossed his hands to make an X which means “No” and said “Kaze” (wind). Bummer, no monkeys today but it was perfectly sunny and calm, what did he mean by wind? But soon after when we went to see the horses, it started downpouring. Ahh yes…kaze.
We told Ryoko-san about it when we got back home for the day and she called someone she knew if there would be boats the following day. I feel proud I could make the gist of the conversation “Yes…two people from America…speaks very little japanese…10:30 tomorrow”
We had our plan for the next day which was monkeys. Drove back to the pier at 10:15 because we’re in Japan and if we got here on time, we’d already be late. There was an old dude driving a boat approaching the dock with another group of japanese people in their 20s also waiting.
As we we approached Kojima Island, there was a single monkey watching us from the rocks. I found out later that he was the scout and whenever the boat would approach, he would scream and the other monkeys on the beach would scream back. Clever monkeys…
He dropped us off on a flat rock and we had to grab onto ropes tied to trees above to swing/walk ourselves to the beach. There were monkeys everywhere and lots of babies too just chilling, grooming, looking for food. One of the guys that was in our group stuck his butt out at a monkey who was hunched over. It DID NOT like that and leaped at him. Don’t mess with monkeys.
Kyoto University regularly sends researchers to this island. We saw 3 people wearing hard hats and climbing gear walking around the beach observing them and taking notes down. The monkeys are also weighed once a month.
We stayed on the beach for about an hour until the monkeys were bored of us and started moving as a group onto the cliffs and trees. I managed to get one of my favorite pics from this trip so far.
One of the things I’ve been wanting to do is visit a Japanese dairy farm. Milk and ice cream from Hokkaido in the northern part of Japan is the best in the world. While I was doing research for this trip, it was too early to visit a dairy farm in that part of the country due to it still being winter but the farms are open here in the south. It was a 2.5 hour drive to the nearest farm that was open to visitors so we made the very windy road trip out to Takachiho Farms.
As we got closer to where the farm was, there were huge mountains in the background. I thought “huh that would be cool if we were able to get a closer look”. Lo and behold, the farm was actually at the foot of the mountain. We got out of the car and the place basically smelled like the MN state fair. There were sheep and cows that you could pet and feed (pass). We were more interested in what we could eat.
The fresh milk and ice cream were delicious and did not disappoint. They left a delightfully creamy after taste and just felt wholesome. Totally worth the 4 hour round trip. There was a sign near the entrance which showed the name of the volcanoes, which I thought were just mountain peaks. The last time one of them erupted was 2011 so they are still very active and there are public onsen in the area that we could have visited. Maybe it’s the sulfur in the air that influences the delicious taste of the milk?
I drove a crap ton today. Driving on the opposite of the road takes extra mental effort to make sure you’re not turning into oncoming traffic. Thankfully everyone on the road is very polite and casual as if they are in no rush.
We got back in time to visit the new onsen that was in the neighborhood before getting dinner. “Funny” thing happened when we were there. Typically, onsens provide shampoo and body wash to use for free. We weren’t aware that this one required that you bring your own. You’re also required to bathe before getting into the hot spring water. So I’m standing there, lost, naked trying to figure out what to do. I saw a wire rack with a basket of shower supplies thinking it’s free to use. I grab the bottle of body soap and an old guy waives at me and points at himself. Ooops I almost stole an old man’s stuff I apologize and he realizes that I didn’t bring my stuff so he lets me use it, I thank him profusely and he also gives me his loofa. I quickly bathe, bring him his stuff back, he realizes I didn’t wash my hair and hands me his shampoo too. Never underestimate the kindness of strangers when you’re both naked.
Joanna had a similar story but managed to steal someone’s stuff when they weren’t looking so she missed out on the awkward interaction.
We’ll likely never come back to this city or see these people again so embarrassment averted.
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