happens to animals when they’re no longer used
by the entertainment industry.”
But Oikawa said that people critical of the
attraction’s animal ethics don’t understand
Japan’s sarumawashi culture. “We love mon-
keys—we’re on their side,” he said. “We don’t
use abusive training methods.”SATOSHI HARADA was a trainer who used to work
in monkey shows before becoming director and
head animal coach of a monkey act company
called Sen-zu No Sarumawashi, which stages
shows at street festivals, schools, and parties.
When I met him at the company’s office in Kawa-
saki, he said he wanted to avoid stressful training
methods by focusing more on positive reinforce-
ment and affection, including even sleeping with
the animals when they’re very young.In Japanese beliefs, every animal has a route
to provide good fortune, he continued, and in
the traditional sarumawashi act, each monkey
trick has meaning. When the trainer spins the
animal by the arms, the performance area is
purified. When a monkey leaps through two
hoops, it is spreading health and long life. Hav-
ing monkeys walk on stilts extends wishes to
children for wellness and happiness.
It’s not easy training the animals to do such
complicated stunts, Murasaki said. Even basic
sarumawashi tricks can take more than a year to
learn. The first step is teaching the monkey to sit
on a small stool, he said. The trainer presents the
stool and taps for the monkey to take a seat. If
the monkey obliges, the trainer showers it with
praise and affection. Next comes bipedal walk-
ing. “Very unnatural for monkeys,” Murasaki
emphasized, which is why it can take months of
leading the monkey by its hands until the animal
starts doing this on command.
Gradually, trainer and monkey work toward
more elaborate moves and gymnastics. Tiny
stilts are mastered, then replaced with taller
ones. Murasaki and his son allow the monkeys to
take the lead, he said, because the alternative—
screaming or hitting—would discourage trust.
Training methods vary, however. On my visit
to Nikko Saru Gundan, Tsuyoshi Oikawa, a
trainer there for 20 years, told me that tradition-
ally animal handlers used dominance to teach
the monkeys that humans outranked them. To
establish a pecking order, they’d yell and some-
times even bite the monkeys. He said he uses
positive reinforcement through play combined
with oral discipline. “We treat them like our kids.
If they do good performances, we say well done.
But if they don’t, we scold them.”
Around the world, attractions such as Nikko
Saru Gundan face an increasing backlash from
those morally opposed to keeping wild animals
in captivity and exploiting them for entertain-
ment. “The world is outraged by gimmicky ani-
mal acts, which is why so many animal circuses
are closing their doors and countries are banning
them,” said Jason Baker, senior vice president
of international campaigns with People for the
Ethical Treatment of Animals. “Sadly, history
has shown us that we can’t rely on governments
to protect animals, especially in countries like
Japan, where animal welfare laws are weak. No
one monitors living conditions, preproduction
training sessions, maternal separation, or what
Traditional sarumawashi
performances feature
a trainer coaching
a monkey through
acrobatic stunts. The
main stage at Nikko
Saru Gundan special-
izes in glitzier, scripted
productions with up
to six monkeys, elabo-
rate sets, and multiple
costume changes.
Globally, such attrac-
tions are increasingly
controversial because
of concern for the
animals’ welfare.112 NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC