Japanese Snow Monkeys

I don’t have a travel bucket list. Sure, there are places I’d like to go, but there’s nothing like “I have to see this, and this, and this before I die”. However, there’s one thing I’d always wanted to see since I was a little kid.

Growing up in Ithaca, we had a set of the Time Nature Library books which I used to look at all the time. In one of those books was a picture of some monkeys sitting in a hot spring in the snow. It was stunning, and made no sense to me then, so I’ve always wanted to see them with my own eyes to figure out what was going on.

And exactly one year ago today, in my Best Japan Day, I saw the snow monkeys with my own eyes, and figured out what was going on. I briefly talked about the monkeys in that post, saying I’d post a longer one about them at a later time. That later time is now, on the anniversary (which shamed me into finally writing this post today).

The snow monkeys are definitely not the easiest to get to. After many trains & busses, I arrived at the base of Snow Monkey Park (Jigokudani Yaen Koen) located in the Japanese “Alps”:

It’s then a mile walk up a beautiful snow-covered trail through the woods:

They really add to the drama with multiple gates you have to walk through:

Finally you see the monkeys in the distance, hidden by steam & gobs of people:

The monkeys are wild, but very used to people, so you can get right up next to them. Because it’s Japan, everybody is very well behaved, and nobody tried to mess with or feed the monkeys, and they don’t beg for food. Really, it’s the people begging, for that one perfect shot.

The monkeys are actually all over the place, scampering about in the river & on the hillsides:

Or just sitting & chilling:

Or grooming (and eating):

Like I said, the monkeys really don’t care about humans:

Before they were famous snow monkeys, they were just monkeys living in the forest. Locals traveled into the forest to enjoy the natural hot springs there. At one Onsen, people sitting in one of the man-made outdoor pools would watch the monkeys in the forest, and entice them to come closer with food. Over time, this “closer” became “in”, and thus the bathing snow monkeys. The monkeys are wild and started to become aggressive, so the government built them their own pool, which is the one you see in the pics above.

Here’s the original Onsen & pool, though, again filled with just human monkeys:

So, was it a dream come true to see them? Sure, if you want to be dramatic about it. I really enjoyed seeing them, and being around them, and it was a bonus to me that it’s something I’d long wanted to do. It really is a unique experience & sight in the world. There are heaps of people, though, and it kind of lessens the experience. But it doesn’t come close to ruining it — it actually becomes kind of funny. So, I’d highly recommend going to see them, pairing it with a stay in Ryoken in a Japanese Onsen town.