5 Must See Japanese Animal Hotspots

Catlett she looks like Hitler hit look at are you going Japan has an amazingly low crime rate by all accounts one of the lowest in the world the trouble is this means you often let your guard down while you're out and about and so you can find yourself becoming a subject to some truly ruthless criminals for example one afternoon I was strolling through this beautiful forest and suddenly I was surrounded by this thuggish group of forces one of them actually tried to steal my camera now yeah but fortunately I was with this American girl so I just pointed at her and they ate her instead another time I was relaxing on this remote island just lying down trying to get a tan before I knew it I found myself being harassed and assaulted by literally dozens of rabbits up until then what I thought rabbits I thought cute cuddly but now what I think rabbits oh I just think relentless and sadistic and then of course there was the time my friend asked and I was sitting in this restaurant I think I think it was a Tuesday and we just ordered this delicious reasonably priced fried chicken and to our horror this monkey just casually strolled over and took it he took all of our fried chicken and then swag it off like some kind of arrogant monkey gangster I mean at one point I even hijacked this man and turned him into a monkey transportation device it was mental so whilst the people of Japan might be kind generous law-abiding the animals they they don't play by the rules oh but there are many places in Japan where animals have really made their mark and I think the coolest thing about each of these hotspots is just how unique they are each one has its own story and sense of adventure spread across remote islands mountain ranges and even city streets so here's the rundown on finding the best animal hotspots in Japan what they are where they are and why they are does that work yeah look how fun is look how fun it is look at fun all right one Japan is the country that popularized the cat cafe a place where you can sit and enjoy dozens of cats and overpriced coffee but why fit isn't enough what if you want even more get in a way of the Pacific coastline of North Japan's the island of tashirojima the cat equivalent Jurassic Park to reach the island all you need is a 2000 yen round-trip boat ride ticket and a pirate themed soundtrack to heighten the sense of adventure soon after stepping off the boat you'll find yourself receiving a warm friendly welcome for more cats than you probably ever seen a warm friendly welcome that definitely has nothing to do with all the food the cats are expecting as well as having a silly amount of cats the island even has its own dedicated cat shrine celebrating the cat's genuine and essential relationship with the Islanders up until the 20th century the islands economy relied on textiles produced by silkworm and to stop the silkworms being viciously assassinated by mice cats were brought in to dispose of the mice as they saw fit over the years the islands unneutered cat population has reached the point where cats vastly outnumber the island's human inhabitants it makes the island all the more impressive knowing that the cats had a key role in the islands economy in stark contrast to most domestic cats who sit around all day eating your salary having visited the island twice once in the winter and once in the summer I can safely say make sure you go when it's not winter on a scale of one to ten thirteen fantastic Cat Island receives the most adventurous award on account of its location and because the island has a mysterious forgotten feel to heightened again by that pirate soundtrack Catlett she looks like Hitler hit look at where are you going it's difficult not to feel a sense of envy the first time you see snow monkeys of nagging Oh relaxing in a hot spring nestled away in the mountains of central Japan the Jigokudani Valley is perhaps Japan's most internationally famous animal hotspot quite literally the hotspot given that Jigokudani means hell's valley a name given on account of all the hot springs and steam rising up from the valley whilst the Japanese macaque can be found throughout the mountains of Japan the Dickel kudani Valley is certainly an impressive backdrop to view the animals the monkeys look absolutely hypnotic as they wonder about with their bright red faces in stark contrast to the white snowy backdrop I visited the valley during my first winter in Japan whilst I still fondly remember almost breaking my leg and with 2 kilometer trek through the treacherous snow-covered forest to get there it was definitely worth it if not to see the monkeys relaxing in the steam on a cold winter's morning then at the very least to get this pretentious photo the good news is the park is open all year round although I highly recommend visiting during snow season also known as winter more details can be found below but the Nagano snow monkeys win the most captivating award as it's difficult to get bored whilst watching the monkeys wander around and relax amongst their geothermal wonder dun dun dun and if you want to get even more up close and personal with the monkeys so much so that they're literally on your face one honorable mention is the Kabuki a Tavern in the city of it's not mere about an hour north of Tokyo the tavern has received quite a lot of attention over the years as the monkeys are trained to bring customers napkins and beer and perform some impressive stunts as well as crawl all over this woman's head when my friend asked and I visited it last year we were both pretty confused by although we nonetheless enjoyed our visit you can find the link to our trip below but it's certainly worth a visit to anyone who really really likes monkeys two hours from the city of Hiroshima in Japan's Inland Sea lies the island of Okinawa a place that answers the eternal question what is it that rabbits actually do cats like to chase mice dogs such as seeking friendship from monkeys just want to sit in hot tubs all day but rabbits motives still remain shrouded in secrecy what Colonel Shima offers a key to solving that mystery as there are probably more wild rabbits on the island than anywhere else in the Milky Way last summer I decided to visit the island and see if all the press it had been receiving was accurate and when I got there I did genuinely find a staggering amount of rabbits given that the rabbits are wild and desperate for dinner there unsurprisingly confident in approaching visitors whilst playing with the rabbits paradoxically you'll notice nearby signs for chemical weapons factories it turns out during the Second World War the island of Okinawa SEMA was at the very heart Japan's chemical weapons program in fact some believe the islands rabbits are descendants from test rabbits that escaped the facilities but regardless of how the rabbits got there they've certainly thrived in the absence of natural predators at first I did feel a bit cynical in the same way I would if a nuclear test site was turned into a donkey theme park but it nonetheless gives the island a nice sense of redemption up until my visit in August I've never spared much thought towards cute things like rabbits but I was pleased to discover I actually quite like rabbits perhaps there is good at me in the heart of the ancient city of Nara once briefly Japan's capital city is a huge sprawling Park full of temples shrines and over 1,000 deer traditionally a symbol of luck today the deer can wander freely around the park and even on the nearby city streets but perhaps the most impressive thing about the deer is that they will actually bow before you give them a delicious deer cracker it said the deer should bow three times first by holding the cracker in front of the deer then holding the cracker behind your back and finally over their head however after you've been swarmed by half a dozen deer completing this ritual quickly loses its appeal there's something quite enchanting about walking the streets of this ancient city with these huge animals walking around of their own accord and along with the temples and shrines it makes Nara a really rewarding place to visit and of course you can take some more pretentious photos for your Facebook profile it's also worth giving an honorable mention to the deer on miyajima island as well the island home to the iconic torii gate in the sea word of warning though the deer on miyajima are somewhat bolder than the deer of nara a friend and I once went camping on the island and woke up halfway through the night to find a deer eating its way through our tent so if you do go camping on miyajima just be sure to take out tent insurance first the first time someone mentioned fox village to me i think i laughed at them in disbelief so you can probably imagine my guilt several months later when I was standing in Fox village watching my friend Rachel holding a baby fox whilst technically not a hot spot for a huge enclosure hidden away in a forest in the mountains of North Japan to refer to it as a village seems entirely appropriate given the tiny hearts and buildings dotted throughout the village and even an enigmatic leader who will meet you at the gates what is it you seek in fox village there are over a hundred foxes throughout the village and to see them all all you need to do is reveal you hold some kind of food in your home as much as it pains me to say it the foxes are quite cute and amazingly playful of all the places on this list I'd say Fox village will be the place that blows your mind the most and if you can make the trip it's definitely worth it you can check out our trip below but Fox village gets the most surreal award also if you plan to visit cat island and fox village both are relatively close to Sendai so I highly recommend doing both over a two-day period with a night spent in Sendai so there you have it five of japan's most unique animal hot spots if you visited somewhere in japan with an abundance of animals that wasn't a zoo please share your stories with us in the comment section below and if you enjoyed the video please don't forget to show your support by hitting the like button thanks a lot guys I'll see you next time you got you bastard the FI pin here where's the only stop when you feed box you only stop for I beat wow that was gonna be a hit record you let me down you let me down big time

Channel: Abroad in Japan

Views: 649,445

Keywords: Japan (Country), animals, Japanese (Ethnicity), Nature (Journal), snow monkeys, Nagano (Japanese City/town), Fox (Animal), Nara (Japanese City/town), Miyajima (City/Town/Village), Itsukushima Shrine (Listed Site), Cat Island (Island), 海外の反応, クールジャパン, 外人, 旅行, 観光, Animal (Film Genre), 猫, キツネ, 地獄谷, yummyjapan, abroadinjapan, ญี่ปุ่น, เที่ยวญี่ปุ่น, สวนสัตว์, เกาะแมว, เกาะกระต่าย, หมู่บ้านจิ้งจอก

Id: 9QT-4KgTaA0

Length: 11min 7sec (667 seconds)

Published: Sun Dec 13 2015