I visited Punch, the famous baby monkey, in Japan. Here’s what TikTok doesn’t show.

• A video of little monkey Punch and his IKEA toys has gone viral on TikTok.

• Reeno Hashimoto took three trains to the zoo in eastern Tokyo to see what was going on.

• Visitors to Monkey Mountain are limited to 10 minutes each.

Since moving to Tokyo last year, my friends in New York have made a habit of sending me trending posts about Japan. That’s how I first learned about Punch, a baby monkey abandoned by his mother and now in the care of zookeepers at the Ichikawa Zoo in eastern Tokyo.

A video of Punch, a 7-month-old Japanese macaque, clinging to an Ikea orangutan has received millions of views on TikTok. The hashtag #HangInTherePunch has gone viral.

Javier Quiñones, commercial manager for Ingka Group, which operates IKEA stores around the world, told Business Insider that sales of IKEA’s Djungelskog orangutan toy have increased.

“This toy has long been one of our most popular toys across markets, and the story from Japan now brings it a little extra love,” he said.

On a recent Friday afternoon, I visited the zoo

I expected other fans to make the trek, but I didn’t spot any riders heading to the zoo. At first, the train was packed with people—commuters carrying suitcases bound for Narita Airport, office workers, uniformed elementary school students—but by the time we arrived at sleepy Ichikawa Station, most people had left.

It takes less than 2 hours to get there: three train rides and a 30-minute walk. The bus to the zoo does not run on weekdays.

Near the entrance, I started seeing foreign and Japanese tourists crawling out of taxis clutching monkey stuffed animals. It was obvious who they came to see.

Go to the zoo

I paid the 440 yen ($2.80) entrance fee and headed to Monkey Mountain, passing an animal mosaic mural along the way.

Rows of people lined up around the blue iron fence, cellphones held up, waiting to capture Punch in action. Spectators oohed and aahed as other monkeys climbed up the rock structure and played with the silver chain on top.

The air smelled of manure. The paddock itself is desolate – rocky, almost devoid of vegetation, more concrete jungle than mountainside.

Some monkeys appear thin and even bald

Punch looked healthy by comparison, and his fur was darker and thicker than the others’. Visitors laughed as he jumped from the rocks onto the monkey bars.

He’s not the only baby in the exhibit, but he appears to be the smallest. Most of the time, he keeps to himself, occasionally playing with a slightly larger one.

A woman from Canada who came to visit her family wearing a Yankees hat told me she had seen Punch playing with his Ikea toys and interacting with other people.

“We didn’t see any monkeys fighting,” she said. “We don’t like zoos and would be a bit concerned about supporting a zoo if it didn’t have the best enclosures. They could use some improvements, but it’s better than I thought.”

After about 10 minutes, the team became agitated.

“Lunch time,” someone nearby said in Japanese.

The monkeys scrambled to climb up. Punch returned to the monkey bars. A slightly larger monkey charged at him, knocking him off balance, but he quickly recovered.

A group of girls wearing heavy makeup and Japanese high school uniforms arrived, giggling. “Abai,” they whispered. “Kawaii.”

Remarkably, Punch did not capture his orangutan.

The toys were abandoned on the other side of the fence.

At 2:50 p.m., the monkeys started shouting for food, climbed up the door, and hung on the railing. Then, a young man in a blue uniform walked in.

Punch immediately climbed onto the zookeeper’s lap and dropped orange and yellow pellets as the zookeeper circled the enclosure. Within minutes the food was gone.

The zookeeper came back with something that looked like grass. This time Punch sat on his shoulder and they circled around again before disappearing together into the back room.

All around me, viewers were wondering if Punch would appear again before closing. Most were young people—students and couples, some in coordinated outfits—clearly there to take photos.

I asked the zookeeper if he had time to answer a few questions, but he said the staff was overwhelmed by Punch’s popularity and too busy to respond, even to email inquiries.

Then an announcement came over the loudspeaker: Monkey Mountain is getting crowded. Visitors are asked to limit their stay to 10 minutes.

Punch fame is rationed in 10-minute increments.

Read the original article on Business Insider