Going Ape In Aichi

Aichi is famous for being the home of the “World’s Most Handsome Gorilla”, a western lowland gorilla named Shabani that has women –human women - swooning over his movie star looks in the Nagoya Zoo. Aichi is also home to the Inuyama Monkey Park, a combination primate research institute and theme park in historical Inuyama City.

Calling it a “primate research institute” makes it sound cold and harsh. Far from it. The park is designed to offer comfortable living arrangements for the residents, and quality viewing for the visitor.

(Everybody do the Monkey!)

You can see and learn about the lives and habitats of apes, chimps, gibbons, gorillas, mandrills, monkeys, primates of every type, and from all over the world. You can even go inside some areas, such as the Madagascar Lemur enclosures, for a face to face with a lemur.

(Meet the monkeys at Inuyama Monkey Park)

The adjoining theme park is fun too, featuring over 35 attractions, including a ghost train to roller coasters, haunted hospital and merry go rounds. In the summer, Inuyama Monkey Park opens its popular, wide, open air pool facilities. (Don’t know whether they feature Sea Monkeys in the pools though,…) and in the winter offers ice skating.

Give yourself at least half to a full day to see and enjoy it all. Great for young and old, it’s one place that encourages you to monkey around!

Writer
Chris Glenn

Chris Glenn is a bilingual radio DJ, TV presenter, producer, narrator, MC, copywriter, author and columnist, and Japanese historian, specializing in samurai castles, battles, armor and weapons. He is an inbound tourism advisor, and is often called upon as a lecturer and speaker on Japanese history and topics. He was born in Adelaide, South Australia in 1968, and has spent over half his life in Japan, most of that time in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture. Chris is dedicated to promoting and preserving Japans’ long history, deep culture, traditions, arts and crafts.