It’s a long journey to meet them snow monkeys in Jigokudani Park. The Shinkansen ride took 1.5 hours from Tokyo to Nagano where a Snow Monkey Pass can be bought to cover the nearly one-hour bus trip and entrance fee to the park. That’s not bad but you need to walk from the bus stop to the park. Should have ordinarily taken about 30 minutes of walking 2kilometers but the narrow paths are slippery with last night’s snow. Icy by the time we got there and our rubber shoes are no longer good to go. We rented snow boots and finally started walking — for a good hour! No way you can go faster as we eyed the edge of the paths that showed drops I dare not even imagine. Here and there, we dropped to our knees as we slipped and our weights carried us down the paths. At one point, our hands “burned” as we slid hanging by the ropes. It was tempting to give up but having wasted 2.5 hours on a train and bus, we decided to wing it.

Lonely walk towards the park,
Snow all around!

The hot springs serve as haven for these macaques during winter. The heat keeps them warm as they frolic between the mountain slopes and the pond. Never aggressive, but it’s wise to keep a distance. On a few occasions, a couple of macaques squirrelled past me. Every now and then, there’d be “quarrels” among them — I guess claiming their onsen spots — but nothing so dramatic, nor threatening. After a while, you get used to the snarling sounds. It’s just magical just watching them have a good time.

Almost there.
Finally there.

The snow monkeys are having a good life here. An onsen life in the wilds. While we stood watching, Mama Monkey and her babies are soaking warm in the pond. The park sits close to many nearby onsens catering to humans. Same hot springs, I bet, but nothing beats how these snow monkeys are enjoying their own brand of onsen-dipping. The peace and quiet is only broken by camera shutters busily snapping shots, and humans doing what they do worst — being noisy. If these monkeys aren’t quarrelling, they just sit quietly with eyes closed, seemingly meditating. You can say they behave better in onsens than many humans. 🤣

These snow monkeys are having a good life.
Mommy and Baby enjoying the onsen as Papa dozes.

I’m glad we came. It’s best visited in winter when the macaques are drawn to the hot springs. But I should have remembered to wear snow boots to keep me from slipping, and a beanie to keep my head and ears warm. Well, hard lessons learned. For those of you making plans to visit this winter, pay heed. So there.