Excursions & Post Conference Tours

Excursions

We offer excursions to some of the long-term field research sites of Japanese macaques; Arashiyama, Koshima Island, Kinkazan Island, Yakushima Island and Japan Monkey Centre. We also plan a guided tour of Kyoto City Zoo.
Map of Study site

Kyoto is full of sightseeing places and you can easily visit them on your own.

1. Arashiyama Monkey Park "Iwatayama"

Please visit the famous study site Arashiyama Monkey Park "Iwatayama" and watch free-ranging Japanese monkeys. The Park is located on the outskirts of Kyoto City, about 1 hour from Kyoto University. The park is open from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. everyday and can readily be accessed by public transportation. You can visit the park by yourself whenever is convenient for you. On September 18 (Sat), researchers working in the park will wait you to answer your questions in front of the monkeys.

  • Application: not required.
  • Information is available at the conference reception desk.
  • Approximate charge: 1,500 yen (train and entrance fee)
  • Entrance fee is discounted for registered participants (Sep 12 - 19).
    Please show your official name plate of IPS2010 at the entrance.
  • Web site: Iwatayama Official Homepage (in Japanese)

2. Kyoto City Zoo

Kyoto City Zoo is one of the oldest zoos in Japan. It is only 30-minutes' walk from Kyoto University. The park is open from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. every day, except Mondays. You can visit the zoo by yourself whenever is convenient for you. We are planning a guided tour to visit new facilities including the new ape house with its 9 meters-high tower and experimental booth which were inaugurated in 2009.

Guided Tour of Kyoto City Zoo (NEW!)

We will guide you to apes, monkeys and their facilities in the zoo.

  • Maximum participants: 15 people
  • Application: Please send an e-mail to mtanaka(at)wrc.kyoto-u.ac.jp
  • Date: 12 Sep, 1 p.m. - 2 p.m.
  • Please go to the gate of Kyoto City Zoo at 1 p.m.
  • Fee: Free for registered participants.
    Please have your official name plate of IPS2010 with you.

Kyoto City Zoo (visit on your own)

  • Application: not required
  • Information is available at the conference reception desk.
  • Charge: free for registered participants (Sep 12 - 18).
    Please show your official name plate of IPS2010 at the entrance.
  • Web site: Kyoto City Zoo Official Homepage (in Japanese, English, Chinese, and Korean)

3. The Kyoto University Museum

The Kyoto University Museum has more than 2.5 million collection objects relating to arts and sciences and education which Kyoto University has collected and studied for the past one hundred years, including primatology. You can buy some interesting souvenirs in the museum. It is located in the campus, only a few minutes' walk from the conference place. The museum is open from 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. every day, except Mondays and Tuesdays. You can visit the museum by yourself whenever is convenient for you.

  • Application: not required
  • Information is available at the conference reception desk.
  • Charge: free for registered participants.
    Please show your official name plate of IPS2010 at the entrance.
  • Web site: The Kyoto University Museum Homepage (in Japanese, and English)

Post Conference Tours

Post Conference Tours is closed.

1. Kinkazan Island

Date: Sep 18 (Sat) - Sep 21 (Tue)
Tour fee: 105,000 yen

Kinkazan Island is a major study site for wild Japanese macaque and wild sika deer. We recommend you to watch the wild Japanese monkeys in this region of northern Japan. On the first day, we will stay in Matsushima, designated as one of the three most beautiful landscapes of Japan, with its very beautiful shore dotted with many small pine clad islelts. During this excursion, you will be accompanied by researchers working on Kinkazan Island.

  • Minimum participants: 4 people
  • Maximum participants: 16 people
  • Application: closed
  • Meals: Japanese food
  • Note: As access to Kinkazan Island is by boat, if the
    sea is too rough, we will stay on the mainland, until it is
    safe for the boat to cross.
  • Note: Kinkazan Island is hilly and equipments for hiking is necessary.
  • Schedule of the excursion

2. Koshima Island

Date: Sep 18 (Sat) - Sep 21 (Tue)
Tour fee: 95,000 yen

Koshima Island is the original birthplace of Japanese primatology. Please visit this historical site and watch wild monkeys performing the famous for potato-washing and other cultural behaviors. We will also visit Cape Toi and other sightseeing places in the region. During this excursion, you will be accompanied by resident staff of Koshima Island.

  • Minimum participants: 4 people
  • Maximum participants: 16 people
  • Application: closed
  • Meals: Japanese or Western-style food
  • Note: As access to Koshima Island is by boat, if the sea is too rough, we will stay on the mainland, until it is safe for the boat to cross.
  • Schedule of the excursion

3. Yakushima Island

Date: Sep 18 (Sat) - Sep 21 (Tue)
Tour fee: 125,000 yen

Yakushima Island is a major study site of natural history in Japan and was recognized as a World Heritage of the IUCN in 1993. Please take this opportunity to see the beautiful primary forest of southern Japan and its wild fauna and flora. During this excursion, you will be accompanied by researchers working in Yakushima Island.

  • Minimum participants: 4 people
  • Maximum participants: 21 people
  • Application: closed
  • Meals: Japanese food
  • Note: If the weather is too bad to fly to Yakushima Island, we will either cancel this excursion or wait at Kagoshima hub airport until flights are resumed.
  • Note: Yakushima Island is hilly and equipments for hiking is necessary.
  • Schedule of the excursion

4. Japan Monkey Centre

Plan 1, Japan Monkey Centre
Date: Sep 18 (Sat)
Tour fee: 5,200 yen
Plan 2, Japan Monkey Centre and Stay a Night in Inuyama
Date: Sep 18 (Sat) - Sep 19 (Sun)
Tour fee: 32,350 yen (Stay in a twin room with one person)
Tour fee: 27,100 yen (Stay in a twin room with two persons)

Tour fee is per person

Japan Monkey Centre (JMC) is a starting point of the primatology in Japan located in central Japan. JMC was established as a research centre of primates and a public educational foundation, financially supported by the Nagoya Railway Company in 1956. The World Primate Zoo was attached to JMC which keeps about 70 nonhuman primate species.
Optionally you stay at Meitetsu Inuyama Hotel by Kiso River with hot spring bath. By evening you can enjoy Japanese traditional fishing method, Cormorant Fishing.

  • Minimum participants: 25 people
  • Maximum participants: 50 people
  • Application: closed
  • Lunch and entrance fee for JMC is included in plan 1 and 2
  • Schedule of the excursion

CANCELLATION AND REFUND POLICY FOR POST CONFERENCE TOUR

Please notify cancellation in writing by fax or by e-mail. The following restrictions apply to cancellations.

All refunds will be made after the congress.

  • 21days or more before the date of arrival No cancellation fee
  • 20 to 8 days before the date of arrival 20% of tour fee
  • 7 to 2days prior to the date of arrival 30% of tour fee
  • 1day prior to the date of arrival 50% of tour fee
  • On the date of arrival or no notice given 100% of tour fee

Related symposia and workshops before and after the IPS2010 congress

>> CLICK HERE

Notes:

1)
Tour Fee for Kinkazan, Koshima and Yakushima include transport, hotels, meals, travel insurance, but not alcoholic drinks, lunch and optional visits to sightseeing spots. The charges also include the costs arising from voluntary researcher's service for accompanying the excursions.
2)
If the number of participants is too small, the excursion will be canceled.
3)
Number of participant is limited for safety reasons: we have an upper limit of party size when observing wild monkeys in the mountains and/or depending on the capacity of rental cars.
4)
We are sorry that we cannot prepare special meals for people with special dietary needs and constraints. For example, no hotels nor restaurants serve special menus for vegetarians or vegans near the field sites. Accompanying researchers' priority is safe travel and they cannot afford to prepare special meals.
Typical Japanese meals includes, rice, miso-soup, sea food (mainly fish), meat (beef, chicken and pork), vegetables and pickles. Pork and lard is popular in Japan, especially in southern Japan (Koshima and Yakushima). Even if you only take rice from among the dishes served, discount for meals is impossible, as there is no such custom in Japan. We appreciate your understanding.