The Complex Relationship Between Japanese Culture And Macaques

The relationship between the Japanese culture and macaques: what this reveals about their cultural meanings
The monkey plays a special role in the social structure of the Japanese people, by being remarkably close to humans. The Monkey, to the Japanese has come to be symbolic of the Japanese culture, yet in literature it exhibits characteristics which are human but flawed. In this essay I will explore how the monkey can be both similar to, and distinct from humans; and how, though the macaque is a pest to crops, the Japanese people interact with the monkey to create a better economic relationship.
Interaction wise, the macaque, a monkey native to Japan, and humans have a very complex relationship. At the same time as being culturally distinct
Gibbons became associated with the supernatural while the Macaques became associated with human nature. In my opinion this was because the Japanese people hadn’t seen a gibbon before, only in the painting tradition which Mu’ Ch’i introduced to japan, creating a kind of mystical association with the unseen gibbons as a supernatural being. Whereas the Macaques by contrast were very well known to the Japanese and would frequently be spotted near settlements, both humans and monkey would have to co-exist with one another. “More frequently, however, macaques are pictures either as anthropomorphic caricatures or in human settings, that is, among humans or among human-made objects.” (Tierney 1987:27) This is why in the artistic tradition macaques would be anthropomorphised and constantly threatening the idea of what it meant to be human, and gibbons being constantly depicted against a natural background. Therefore Gibbons and Macaques are in constant opposition; with macaques representing culture and Gibbons representing