Traditional entertainment: monkey shows

I'm not a fan of monkeys since that time a little hairy hand stole my fishbait from between my feet. Or that other time on a car trip when a monkey bared its teeth at me after jumping into the passenger seat when my companions and I mistakenly left the car door open.

But over time, I've slowly warmed up to ニホンザル nihonzaru, the Japanese macaque. They're cute, clever, and appear in a traditional entertainment called 猿まわし sarumawashi, monkey shows. I caught a human-nihonzaru duo at the local shopping centre today.

So, how did monkey shows become a thing? Before they became street performances, they had magical powers. It was believed that monkeys could ward off pestilence, especially in horse and cattle stables. Monkey trainers would bring the monkeys to dance in front of the livestock as talismans against disease. Edo era prosperity brought them into the streets.

If you meet a nihonzaru in the wild, give them lots of space, don't stare at them as it's a threat display, and if they have a go at you, don't turn your back on them. And keep your belongings close as they'll nick what  they want.