← All articles · Japan · 11 February 2024

Jigokudani, Japan: Snow monkeys bathing in a steaming mountain onsen

Japan's snow monkeys in February: the walk through a frozen forest above Nagano to Jigokudani, where wild macaques soak in a steaming hot spring.

In February 2024 we took a winter detour from Tokyo up into the mountains of Nagano, to visit the only monkeys on earth famous for having their own onsen. Jigokudani means "hell valley", which felt dramatic until we saw the steam coming out of the frozen gorge and understood the name completely.

We skipped the guided tours. The plan was to turn up, stay as long as we felt like it, and if the monkeys didn’t show, go and sit in an onsen ourselves at Yudanaka or Shibu and try again the next morning.

Getting there from Tokyo

It’s doable in a day, just about, and it’s two legs.

The first is the Hokuriku Shinkansen from Tokyo Station. We took the Kagayaki service, which does Tokyo to Nagano in an hour and a half and cost us around JPY 8,500 one way. It’s reservation only, so book the seat. Hakutaka and Asama run the same line and stop more often. The whole line is covered by the JR Pass, the JR East Pass and the JR Hokuriku Arch Pass, but if the monkeys are the only thing taking you out of Tokyo, a plain return ticket works out cheaper than a pass.

The second leg is the Nagaden Express bus from stop 23 at Nagano Station’s east exit, 45 to 50 minutes, 1,800 yen. The JR Pass doesn’t cover it. It drops you at the Snow Monkey Park stop by the Roman Museum car park.

Dileep in a green parka and sunglasses standing on a snow-covered road in Nagano with pine forest on both sides — Off the bus, and straight onto a road made entirely of packed snow.

The walk in

From the car park it’s about 2km through pine forest to the ticket office and the onsen, and it takes roughly half an hour. There are a few steps, but it’s mostly flat with a gentle climb. Wear proper boots: the path gets slippery where the snow has been walked on and refrozen.

Selfie of Dileep in a bobble hat and Inga in a pale green scarf on a snowy forest trail with sunlit mountains behind — The walk in: a snowy trail through cedar forest, with the mountains showing off behind us.

Snow-covered pine trees against a bright blue sky on the trail to Jigokudani Monkey Park — Half an hour of this, which is not the worst way to spend it.

Selfie of Dileep in a bobble hat and sunglasses and Inga in a pale green scarf, snowy pines and a mountain ridge behind them — Somewhere in the middle, still warm, still optimistic.

The park

Jigokudani Monkey Park sits at the bottom of Joshinetsu Kogen National Park and it’s open all year. It was set up in 1964, after ski resort building pushed the macaques into the local towns where they were treated as pests. The name comes from the geothermal steam that comes up out of the valley floor.

Tickets are same-day only, sold at the office at the end of the forest walk, and the queue builds from mid-morning. When we went in February 2024 it was 800 yen for adults and 400 for children. There are lockers, an information centre and toilets by the ticket office. No food inside the park, so the monkeys stay wild and stay off you.

Dozens of Japanese macaques gathered on snowy rocks beside a steaming river at the bottom of a gorge — The welcome committee. The troop lives wild in this gorge and drifts down for the warmth.

The monkeys

They come down off the mountain for the hot water, and once they’re in, they’re in. Grooming, arguing, dozing, climbing out to shake and getting straight back in. You can stand a metre away, and you’re asked not to touch them, which is easy because they aren’t remotely interested in you.

Three Japanese macaques at a steaming hot spring pool, two soaking up to their shoulders and one sitting on the snowy rocks — The famous bath. Two in, one supervising, all completely unbothered by the paparazzi.

Several Japanese macaques sitting in and around a steaming hot spring pool surrounded by snow-covered rock — Mid-morning, and the pool is full.

A Japanese macaque perched on a rock at the edge of the steaming onsen while another sits chest deep in the water — One in, one out, both looking equally pleased about it.

A soaking wet Japanese macaque with flattened fur and a bright red face climbing out of the hot spring onto the rocks — Getting out is the undignified part.

Two Japanese macaques on snow-covered rocks above the hot spring, one walking towards the water — The rest of the troop, deciding whether it is worth the walk.

A thick-furred Japanese macaque digging into deep snow with both hands, looking for food — Not everything happens in the water. This one was working for a living.

Dileep taking a selfie in front of snow-covered cliffs while two macaques groom each other on the rocks behind him — You’re asked not to touch or feed the monkeys. Nobody said anything about photobombing, which works in both directions.

When to go

The park is open year round, but the monkeys use the hot spring most on cold mornings, so late December to March is the window if you want them in the snow. Winter opening is 9am. We arrived at 10 and by noon the place was busy, so go early: it’s a completely different experience with twenty people there instead of two hundred.

It’s a long day out from Tokyo by train and bus, and worth every minute. For the rest of that trip, start with our Tokyo post, and if you want Japanese animals with better manners, the deer at Nara bow before they mug you.