Abstract
The existence of meaning arbitrarily created and shared among playing partners, or the existence of culture as a network in which the created meaning and another meaning connect with each other have been claimed to separate animals from humans. A play pattern, so-called play chasing with a target object is observed among juvenile Japanese macaques in provisioned Arashiyama troop. This play pattern is characterized by following two interactive regularities: participants regard only the thing involved now as a target of the play, and a holder of the target object takes a role of the chasee. This play pattern has been established among juvenile macaques in Arashiyama troop, but not established among those in non-provisioned Kinkazan troop. These findings suggest that in play activities, creation of arbitrary meaning and the connection between their food culture and the created meaning can be found among not only humans but also among non-human animals.
