A Day at Jigokudani Monkey Park (地獄谷野猿公苑, Jigokudani Yaen Kōen) in Nagano, Japan

A Day observing the famous "snow monkeys" at Jigokudani Monkey Park (地獄谷野猿公苑, Jigokudani Yaen Kōen) in Nagano, Japan. After taking a bus to the park, you hike in about 2 kilometers until you get to the main gathering point of the snow monkeys. In the valley, the monkeys roam free, mixing right in with the visitors. As you approach, you find them walking along the path with you, jumping down from the nearby trees and generally moving all around the vast space. When it gets cold enough, the monkeys gather in the natural hot spring (onsen). The day we visited it was fairly warm, so no monkeys were in the onsen. But there were still hundreds of them running, playing and eating all over the place.

Seoul Searching Vol. 1

We’re in town prepping for a shoot this week. Yesterday we had a few hours in the morning to roam the streets and look around a little bit. While the air was chilly the skies were blue and the sun was out. Coming from Tokyo, I was struck by how the sunlight seemed more intense or direct in Seoul. It almost felt like a massive spotlight was lighting each street and alley we walked down. It felt like we were walking around a giant, open-world movie set. Even at night, it was interesting to see the types of signs and street lights. Even little alleys that seemed like they didn’t have anything going on were lit and highlighted in cinematic ways. I hope to find more locations that have this kind of illuminated magic to them. It was a very stimulating morning walk that gave my senses lots to feel.

Below are a few moments where the light was doing something special: