Shodoshima Choshikei Osaru No Kuni

Shodoshima Choshikei Osaru No Kuni is an open monkey park located on Shodoshima Island in the Seto Inland Sea.  Shodoshima, an island with a land area of 153 square kilometers and a 2016 population of 28,764 people, is best known for production of olives, soumen noodles, and shoyu.  The monkey park is located in the mountainous interior of the island, and the park includes a lookout from where visitors can see down to the ocean.  

The entrance to the park is simple and can be easily missed if one drives too fast.

Ticket office

Upon entering the park, visitors must then walk a few hundred meters up a gentle slope.

The first structure in the park is this small feeding shack.  For 100 yen, visitors can sit in the shack and feed treats to monkeys that gather outside.

Similar to Arashiyama Monkey Park Iwatayama in Kyoto, this park is a large open property where wild monkeys are free to come and go from the surrounding mountains.  The park has two groups of monkeys, According to the park’s home page, Group A has about 300 members and Group B has about 200 members.

The hills that comprise the lower area of the park are inhabited by Group B.

The upper park of the park, which included a large covered area, was the territory of Group A.

Mixed among the monkeys were a pair of deer.

When the park staff scattered some vegetables and grains on the floor of the covered area, it triggered a feeding frenzy.

The upper park of the park featured some structures that appeared to be for the entertainment of the monkeys.  Judging by the worn condition of the equipment, I would estimate that they were installed at least 25 or more years ago.

There was also this water fountain.

There were a handful of peacocks kept in caged enclosures.

There were also a few monkeys kept in caged enclosures.  I was told that these monkeys had been injured or sick.  I was also told that it was very difficult to catch the wild monkeys, so the staff was not always successful when they wanted to catch a monkey for examination or treatment. During the 90 minutes or so that I was on the property, I only saw three people that looked to be park staff. 

The elder monkey below was attacked by other monkeys.  A stark reminder of how cruel wild monkey society can be.

Food and Souvenirs

The monkey park is located adjacent to the Choshikei Waterfall which is also somewhat of a tourist attraction.  Visitors to the waterfall or the monkey park can make use of a fairly large parking lot, and there is a souvenir store/snack shop where visitors can sit down and eat before getting back on the road.

There weren’t really any branded goods with the park name, but there were a lot of locally produced products and a few cute monkey-related souvenirs.

Getting There

Shodoshima Choshikei Osaru No Kuni is about a 20-minute drive from Tonosho boat harbor.  Using a rental car or taking a taxi would be the most reasonable way to visit.  (Although Shodoshima is not a very large island, the trip from the harbor to Choushikei represents quite a gain in elevation, so accessing the park by bicycle would be an Olympics-level physical accomplishment.)  According to a taxi company’s home page, the fare from Tonosho Harbor to Choshikei is approximately 4080 yen.  The park’s home page also makes reference to a bus tour that departs from Tonosho Harbor in the morning, but Shodoshima Choshikei Osaru No Kuni is only one of the stops on that tour, so a participant cannot control how long he or she wants to stay in the monkey park.

Admission to the park was 450 yen for adults (intermediate school students and older),  and 250 yen for children from 4 years old up to elementary school.

(Note: All photos in this post were taken during a visit made on June 8, 2019.  The comments in this post are based on observations made at that time.  Conditions may have since changed.  Please check it out for yourself!)