The ready-to-view wild monkey: The Convenience Principle in Japanese Wildlife Tourism

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Japanese tourism is well known for its fast pace and tight schedules. To be commercially viable, tourist attractions need to be accessible and readily viewable. On logistical grounds, wild animals in their natural habitat are an unlikely tourist attraction. The often remote location of their habitat, their ranging behaviour within this habitat, and their tendency to avoid human encounters all make touristic viewing of wild animals highly impractical. How, then, is wildlife tourism possible in a place like Japan? This article addresses this problem by examining the modus operandi of popular visitor attractions known as ‘wild monkey parks’. It shows how the parks render macaques instantly viewable for time-pressed tourists through the practice of food provisioning.