ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on another human––monkey interface in Japan: monkey parks. It examines one aspect of their appeal – as sites of maternal sentiment. The chapter draws a distinction between two aspects of the visitor’s experience of these parks: as places for watching monkeys and as places for interacting with monkeys. Provisioning makes possible the individual identification of troop members and the detailed research on social relations among monkeys for which Japanese primatology is renowned. Monkey parks are visitor attractions that can occupy an important place in the regional economy in which tourism is a major industry. In Japan particular importance is attached to motherhood and to maternal ties. The fact that the fixtures of the children’s playground are re-created in the saruyama for use by monkeys is an indication of the degree of behavioural continuity between humans and monkeys.
