Monkeys

Our neighborhood borders the wooded hills on the eastern edge of Kyoto, and there are lots of signs around warning about monkeys:

For months we have been joking about these signs, since we have not seen a single monkey. (Why not put up another set of signs: "CAUTION! The Unicorns"?)

Our skepticism was only enhanced by the sensationalist aspect to some of the other signs we came across in nearby temples:

That all changed yesterday evening. Shelley and I were strolling on the grounds of Honen-In temple, a five-minute walk from our house, when we caught sight of a monkey:

It turned out to be a family group, with an adult male (foreground), an adolescent (right), and a mother with a baby (background):

Needless to say, I was violating regulation three from the sign ("Do not get pictures of them"), but we did respectfully retreat and gave them their space to roam: