There’s no better place to monkey around in Kyoto than at the Iwatayama Monkey Park with 140 free-roaming Japanese Monkeys (Macaques). The park had only three rules: no touching the monkeys, no picking up the monkeys’ food from the ground, and most importantly–no staring at the monkeys.

At this special park, dozens of monkeys crawled right next to us and we even saw several baby monkeys as it was breeding season. We also had the opportunity to feed them peanuts. When feeding the monkeys we were put into a caged building while the monkeys remained outside. We were allowed to offer them peanuts or apples, (that the park provided), in an open, flat hand through the barred windows to prevent the monkeys grabbing our fingers instead.

We followed the rules and thankfully had no mishaps, making it a fun experience to see and feed these wild animals. Admission to the park was only 550 yen/person and 100 yen for a bag of peanuts. It was the best money we’ve spent on an attraction in Kyoto. If you are not yet convinced on how awesome the monkey park is, here are 18 reasons why you need to visit it:

1. This monkey

Monkey Park in Kyoto

2. And this monkey

Monkey Park in Kyoto

3. Baby monkey!

Japanese macaque
4. More baby monkey

Monkey Park in Kyoto
5. Another baby monkey

Monkey Park in Kyoto

6. High-line monkey

Monkey Park in Kyoto
7. Monkeys feeding monkeys

Monkey Park in Kyoto

8. CPR monkey

Monkey Park in Kyoto

9. Physical therapy monkey (same as CPR monkey)

Monkey Park in Kyoto
10. Monkey romance

Monkey Park in Kyoto

11. Monkey bro-mance

Monkey Park in Kyoto
12. Monkeys with great hygiene

Japanese macaque
13. Old and tired monkey

Japanese macaque
14. Sad monkey

Monkey Park in Kyoto

15. Clumsy monkey

Japanese macaque
16. Meditative monkey

Japanese macaque

17. Lazy-ass monkeysJapanese macaque

18. Monkey fight

About The Author

Britnee traveled around the world with her husband on a shoestring budget for a year. A few of her favorite destinations include Scotland's Isle of Skye, Chile's Torres del Paine, Bolivia's Salt Flats and Nepal's Annapurna Circuit.

3 Responses

  1. Di

    I love CPR/physical therapist monkey.

    • Mark Johnston

      As long as CPR monkey doesn’t come directly after PT monkey, then something must seriously be wrong with PT monkey.