Monkeys on Sado Island?

I kept thinking to myself, 'Where are all the monkeys?'

The island was beautiful, up the coast, down the coast, all the way around. I drove it once, biked it once. The driving was more fun because I could enjoy the breathtaking scenery. The biking was hard because I was in a hurry – trying to complete the second leg of the triathlon.

But, where were the monkeys?

We did the touristy things – shopped in the small stores, lunched at a restaurant, then drove.

When I could endure it no longer I finally asked my Japanese friends, "But, where are the monkeys?"

Puzzlement… then laughter.

New to Japan and the Japanese language, I hadn't been able to distinguish between Sado and 'saru' the Japanese word for, yup, monkey. I thought my friends were taking me to Saru Island, not Sado Island.

Once we got that straightened out, I stopped looking for the little 'people-never-bes' and started enjoying what Sado really had to offer – a rugged coastline, jaded mountains, green (yeah, there's green in Japan once you get out of the big city), rolling hills and the Sea of Japan.

Great trip indeed, once I stopped looking around for the monkeys.

Originally posted at Japan-Hopper.