Monkey Island: One of Kanagawa's Best-Kept Secrests

No, not the game; though we were humming the theme on the way there.



Yesterday my family had a rare opportunity in which all three of us were free at the same time, for the entire day. After oversleeping the the exclusion of any day trip more than three hours away we decided to drive down to Yokosuka (横須賀) in Kanagawa (神奈川) and visit Sarushima (猿島) or "Monkey Island."

It's the only island in Tokyo Bay, about the size of Rikers Island in the US. It's a little lump of green poking up out of the water, a five minute boat ride from shore. It was used as an artillery battery site in the Edo period, but now it's a leisure site where you can swim and barbecue.

As day-trips go, this one is very low-commitment. I can't believe we never went there before. Just take a boat five minutes and BAM, there you are. And it's a real cost-saver, too. Most people brought barbecue sets on trolleys and carts.

While on the beach, in a party nearby, one guy grappled another guy and started wailing on him. At first we thought it was some kind of sparing because the rest of their group was looking on indifferently, and they both had such excellent technique, like serious K1 fighters. But When the blood started dripping the whole beach took notice. The bigger guy just kept wailing on the skinny guy until they had to take him away on a stretcher. My first few years here, I'd tried breaking up some of these kind of fights and learned the hard way that my help in these instances is never, NEVER appreciated. There would be a better chance of me ending up in jail than bringing peace. So we just moved out of view and felt like horrible people. But I'm sure that was an unusual event. The rest of the crowd seemed very mild, and Kanagawa does get a bit impassioned compared to the rest of the Kanto plane.

Monkey Island usually gets about 1,000 people a day, but on this Golden Week holiday, 1800 people preceded us. We made up about 3,000 in all. But for all the people, we didn't feel terribly cramped like we do at Disneyland or Shibuya. No bumping or competing for spaces.

They have a little kiosk/shop where you can buy drinks, alcohol, and snacks. There's a sno-cone (kakirori/カキ氷) vendor at times, too. Free walking sticks are available; please put them back before you leave.

The tunnels are fun for the kids to run around in. There are rocks on the far side from which you can fish or climb around. The sea hawks are always entertaining with their aerial prowess. Lots of lush green knolls to picnic on. It's a great place to escape for a few hours. What's really surprising is how few people even know about this place. We've lived in the Kanto plane for over 15 years and this was our first time. I've talked to countless Japanese and foreigners since, and none of them knew about this place. So it's practically a secret garden. I probably shouldn't even be blogging this.

The boats run between fifteen and sixty minutes, and the last one returns around five. Tickets are about 1200¥ per person. Don't wait for the last boat; it'll be like a Cuban refugee raft.

Take a BBQ/picnic set, some sports equipment and have a great day.