Jigokudani Monkey Park

In a steep, forested valley in the mountains of northern Nagano, steam rises from cracks in the rock and hot water bubbles up along the banks of the Yokoyu River. The place is called Jigokudani, "Hell's Valley", after those vents, and it lies at about 850 metres, under deep snow for around four months of the year. What makes it famous is that the wild Japanese macaques living in these forests have learned to sit in a hot pool through the winter, their faces red, their fur frosted, eyes half-closed in the steam: one of the most improbable and endearing sights in the animal world.

The habit has a known beginning. In the early 1960s macaques were seen copying the guests of the Korakukan, an old inn in the valley, and climbing into its outdoor bath. Local people, keen to draw the troop away from farms where it was being hunted for raiding crops, had already been luring the monkeys towards the inn. Because the inn's bath was meant for people, a separate pool was built for the monkeys across the river, and in 1964 the Jigokudani Yaen-koen, the wild monkey park, opened around it. The animals are not caged or tamed: they come down from the forest and are fed by the park's staff, which keeps the troop close, but visitors are forbidden to touch or feed them.

The best time is midwinter, roughly December to March, when snow lies on the rocks and the contrast between the cold air and the steaming water is strongest; then the monkeys spend the most time in the pool, grooming, dozing and squabbling. Because the staff feed the troop all year, the monkeys can be seen in every season, green or white. The information centre keeps portraits of the troop's alpha males going back decades. The images of bathing macaques reached a world audience through the wordless documentary Baraka, and have been photographed endlessly since, yet seeing the scene in person, in the silence of the snow, remains strangely moving.

Getting there

The park is in the Yamanouchi area of Nagano Prefecture, within Joshinetsu Kogen National Park, about 9 km from Nakano. Direct buses run from Nagano Station to the Snow Monkey Park bus stop in about 40 minutes, and local buses connect it with Yudanaka Station and Shibu Onsen. The nearest airport is Shinshu-Matsumoto (MMJ), about 79 km away. From the bus stop a forest footpath of roughly 1.6 km leads to the park, a walk of 30 to 40 minutes; sturdy footwear matters in winter.