Super Typhoon Neoguri is planning to slam into Kyushu in two days time. Bringing with it rain, wind, high tides, and destruction. Looking at the predicted trajectory, the eye of the storm is where I was yesterday, Nishioita Station. All of last night I was woken up by heavy thunder and flashes of lightning all around me. Since 4 p.m. yesterday afternoon it hasn’t stopped raining. Water on the pavement outside pours downhill toward the ocean. Typhoon ‘Wild Raccoon’ is coming.

On a much lighter note, I spend about half an hour drying my shoes with a hairdryer; before heading to the station. My shoes are still soaking wet. What a waste of time. At Beppu Station the rain suddenly stops and a little bit of sun comes out. I decide that I should probably go to the Monkey Park and Forest Therapy Road, while I still have the chance.

As I wait for my bus a 68-year-old Japanese woman approaches me and asks me the usual questions. “Where are you from?” “What is your age?” “Do you know Elizabeth, the Queen?” She is quite polite about it, however, and I am somewhat relieved when my bus finally arrives. The 68-year-old woman thanks me for that chat, and apologises for bothering me. I reply with my favourite Japanese phrase, “Tondemo gozaimasen.” It is a super polite expression meaning ‘no problem’. She is surprised to hear me say it.

The entrance to Mount Takasaki Monkey Land National Park is at the bottom of a mountain. The mountain is 628 metres high, and the monkeys are about half way up. I pay my ¥510 entrance fee and begin to walk the rather easy path. There was an option to pay to take a small train to the top, but I would rather walk, immersing myself in the atmosphere of the woods.

I get to some stairs and there are wild monkeys wandering around all over the place. A sign tells me, “If you look into their eyes, they will perceive this as a threat and they will attack.” Not looking into their eyes is actually harder than you might think. At the Monkey Park there are Japanese monkeys everywhere. Just over 1,200 monkeys, to be almost exact. They wander around by my feet, pretending not to notice me, or just not caring about me being here.

There is a staff member speaking Japanese on a microphone. Randomly all of the monkeys in every direction scream, this occurs maybe every minute or so. The sound is deafening. It turns out I have arrived just before feeding time, and the monkeys are screaming because they know this and want their food.

A crate of food is brought out and the screams get even more intense. From every direction monkeys run toward the food. The member of staff takes the makeshift wheelbarrow carrying the crate of food, and runs away from all the monkeys. They chase him, jumping into the crate to grab food before jumping out again, satisfied.

The monkeys find their own little private spots to enjoy their food. One sits down right next to my foot and munches on a miscellaneous vegetable; another monkey swings back and forth on a swing. I wander around taking photographs of monkeys before heading back down the mountain. I was hoping to go to Forest Therapy Road, but it turns out that the path up the mountain was the magical healing forest.

The next bus to Beppu is in forty-five minutes time. Not as lucky with the bus as I was yesterday. Through the mask of clouds in the distance I can make out Beppu Tower. It doesn’t look too far away so I begin to walk. Some 4.3 kilometres later and I arrive at the supermarket near my hostel. Inside, I head to a restaurant and have a delicious lunch of raw tuna and fried salmon on a stick.

Back at the hostel I watch the television show that aired on Fuji TV on Saturday, Moshimo Tours. I am on screen during the very opening scene of the show. I also appear in the background at the very end. I was going to share the link but it has already been removed from YouTube. Instead, here is another poor quality photograph of my computer monitor. I promise the next photograph will be better.

After watching the show, I take a bicycle and travel for a few hours with no real destination. It suddenly becomes really foggy in Beppu. I start to head back to the hostel, just as the first few drops of rain begin to fall. I grab a snack (a cake) from Seven Eleven and retire to the hostel computer to research typhoons.

Reid Wiseman is an American astronaut living on the International Space Station. He took this photograph of Typhoon Neoguri. In a few hours it will hit the tiny island of Okinawa. Then a day after that it will come to Kyushu, the island I am on. If its course stays the same, it will pass directly through Beppu.

After a discussion with some of the locals, I’m undecided on whether to stay here in Beppu or take the train further north. Beppu has mountains behind it, which might act as a shield against the onslaught of wind. The exact path of the typhoon can easily change. Considering its size, most of Japan is likely to face the worst of it anyway, so attempting to escape it might have the opposite effect.

I think about the people in Okinawa. I also think about the monkeys on Mount Takasaki. Probably two of the worst places you can be during a Super Typhoon; on a tiny island, and half way up a mountain.