Japanese Animal Paradises

[Curious Pathos]

I love what we have to offer animal-lovers in Japan, and I wanted to share some cute videos that would put smiles on faces.

To start, here's the bunny paradise, 大久野島[Okunoshima]:

Clever White Rabbit outsmarts Japanese Youtuber @2:20-3:20 [Tour of Bunny Island by Hikakin TV]:

The Bunny Island challenge, aka get covered by Okunoshima bunnies:

[Success]

[Fail]


Other related videoes

Up next, either the cat islands, the fox villages, the monkey hot springs, or the land of deer...

 

[GwenRaiden]

Summoning @OccaQuokka.

 

[Skanky Vamp]

Summoning @OccaQuokka.

I was thinking the same damn thing

 

[MarlieTheSlayer]

Aww they are so cute! 😀 Love it!

 

[November]

YAAYYY! BUNNIES! IT looks like heaven! I have seen a few videos of the place over the years. If I ever travel, it will be there 😀 I love the variety of colours too! I guess they dont have Myxo, K5 or Calici there... Lucky buns! No death by bugs. Would they have to cull every so often though?

 

[Curious Pathos]

YAAYYY! BUNNIES! IT looks like heaven! I have seen a few videos of the place over the years. If I ever travel, it will be there 😀 I love the variety of colours too! I guess they dont have Myxo, K5 or Calici there... Lucky buns! No death by bugs. Would they have to cull every so often though?

Culling, in general, is actually a very controversial and political issue in Japan. Many think it is barbaric and inhumane, while others deem it necessary. Due to the pervasive influence of the Shinto religion, animals are often seen as sacred, so it becomes a messy topic really quickly. The government is trying to appease both sides and is working on a spaying and neutering tactic for less controlled animal sanctuaries, like the cat islands. The fox villages have handlers and fencing. There are select feeding times and areas for monkey hot springs. Each animal sanctuary is seen as a treasure to the people, and we are definitely working to keep them as good habitats for their respective creature.

In reality, the bunny island is recently getting some government attention for a different reason. There are concerns that there is not a consistent enough stream of tourist to sustain the current bunny island population, so there are ideas to grow more bunny-friendly plant life for them to eat and enforce a regulation on the times and number of boat rides over to the bunny island. This is to try and reach a new status quo for the bunny island ecosystem. No concern for culling has been raised for the bunny island, yet. Right now, the bunny population is still a natural and uncontrolled factor, since it is illegal to bring any natural predators, such as dogs, cats, and mongeese, to the island, and hunting the bunnies is strictly forbidden. In the future, I think a spay and neuter programme will be implemented because that is how we usually treat these things.

 

[November]

My buns LOVE Kale, Maybe it can attract hipster tourists if they start growing that 😛

Very cool, thanks for sharing and the extra info about the program. I wish Australia would implement desexing and paradise programs rather than what we do now with mozzie death viruses. We even cull koalas rather than controlling with moral methods.

 

[Priceless]

Due to the pervasive influence of the Shinto religion, animals are often seen as sacred

What does this mean in practical terms? Are all animals sacred in the Shinto religion? I'm a big animal lover who likes to hear when animals are venerated 🙂

 

[Curious Pathos]

What does this mean in practical terms? Are all animals sacred in the Shinto religion? I'm a big animal lover who likes to hear when animals are venerated 🙂

In practical terms, it means Shinto is a religion of "8 million gods," so there is probably a god for any animal on the Japanese islands, even some mythical animals. The more popular gods usually endorse and highlight certain animals. Inari [Goddess of Fertility, Alcohol, and Wealth] sends secret messages of financial success through her sacred foxes. Amaterasu [Highest Goddess that commands the Sun and the Universe] uses roosters to bring in her sunlight and establish her domain, day. Tenjin[God of Education, Poetry, and the Sky] and his ox carry their knowledge to new lands. Ama-no-Koyane [lesser god of the Fujiwara clan], Futsunushi [Amataratsu's general], Takemikazuchi-o [lesser god of thunder, symbol of vigilance, and Protector against Earthquakes] and an unnamed goddess princess are venerated at Kasuga, the principal deities of Nara. These gods use deer as guardians, messengers, and carriers of blessings. Benten [Goddess of Love, Beauty, Eloquence and lesser goddess of the sea] uses her white snake as messengers of love, giving the gift of eloquent speech to win the heart of your beloved. Bunnies are actually considered sacred on their own with many legends of them helping out several gods and goddesses in the Konjako Monogatari, but I do remember a legend of a lesser bunny goddess; I just can't remember her name. It had something to do with her sacrifice to the higher gods that enabled her to hold the secrets of immortality. She gifts humans with immortality through both legacy and children because the other gods won't let her give us eternal life. It's a weird story...so, in a way, all animals are sacred; it just depends on where you are in Japan to determine how sacred due to the local culture and who the deities of the land are. I hope this answers your questions. If not, please continue rewording your questions until I do.

 

[EarthLogic]

BUNNIES! 🙂🙂🙂
Oh God this is too cute!

 

[Curious Pathos]

Next, 奈良[Nara]. The land of the deer:

These deer live side-by-side with the human residents of Nara, the capital city of Nara Prefecture.

Our deer are friendly, fearless, and highly photogenic.

Deer poses for picture with a ginger woman @ 3:08

Our deer bow to greet people and bow back when people greet them, as seen @ 4:30 - 5:00

Deer bows to camera @0:40-1:00, and well throughout the video, deer greet the cameraman with a bow.

The deer at the shrine are much more respectful and are more likely to bow to people

Monk uses a horn to call the deer from the forest @0:28-1:45

To ensure the safety of the deer and the people, antlers are removed by the Kasuga monks through a traditional ceremony.

This does not hurt the deer, and deer will still fearlessly approach people after this process. You can actually see many of these de-antlered deer in the previous videoes being fed, petted, and bowing. They either have flat stumps or have shorter, thicker, and more rounded antlers. Here is the ceremony explained in English with an outsider perspective:
Nara Deer Antler-Cutting Ceremony - Nara - Japan Travel - Tourism Guide, Japan Map and Trip Planner

Here are two de-antlered bucks fighting @ 1:03-3:00...Yeah, they really don't give up. Testosterone poisoning at its finest, even if they have no way of fighting, they still try.

Am I the only one who finds this to be ridiculously adorable? They're trying so hard...and, the younger bucks watching are like why? Then one keeps trying to make a threatening charging gesture, but the other one is preoccupied with food and doesn't care. It's so cute.

The deer have a YouTube channel:
nara deer channel