Who loves a good soak in a bath when the weather’s cold? We certainly do! So do the macaque monkeys of Japan, who enjoy nothing more than bathing in the country’s hot springs when the weather is chilly. One of the best things about travelling in Japan during the winter is getting out into the countryside to enjoy beautiful scenery and also to bathe in the onsen (hot springs). And it’s possible to watch the monkeys do this as well. Here is our guide about where to see snow monkeys in Japan.
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When and Where To See Snow Monkeys In Japan
One of the best places to see the snow monkeys is the Jigokudani Monkey Park in the Yamanouchi prefecture in central Japan. It’s a park that’s very easy to reach from Tokyo.
The closest town to the park is Yudanaka and it is accessible by public transport or car, if you are hiring a vehicle in the region.
You can actually see the monkeys bathing all year round but they look particularly cute in the winter.
How To Get To Yudanaka
If you have a JR Pass, you can get the shinkansen (bullet train) to Nagano. This is easily accessible from Toyko – it takes around an hour and a half on a direct train. Kanazawa is also on this line if you are coming from the west coast of Japan. If you are travelling from the Kansai region (Osaka or Kyoto) the journey time is longer and you’ll have to change at Tsuruga, Nagoya or Tokyo.
Then you need to catch the Snow Monkey Limited Express train at Nagoya station.
Note: that the Snow Monkey train is a private railway line and you won’t be able to use your JR Pass here. Ticket machines are available close to the platform entrance. Then take the train to the end of the line. The journey takes around 45 mins and costs around 1000-1300 Yen.
Where to Stay in Yudanaka
We often stay in cheap business hotels when we are visiting Japan. They are comfortable but incredibly compact, so we decided to treat ourselves to a couple of nights at a larger inn. We stayed at Hotel Housei which was a 10 minute walk from the station. We had a large tatami room with futon and a private bathroom. On arrival, tea and cake were waiting for us.
A delicious buffet breakfast was available each day. The staff were welcoming and friendly. They also have onsen facilities – so you can bathe in the hot springs, perfect after a day’s sightseeing in the cold winter weather.
If your hotel or ryokan doesn’t have an onsen, there are public baths in the town as well.
A Note on Onsen Bathing Etiquette
Public onsen are usually sex-segregated, which means that if you are travelling in a mixed-sex group, you will have to bathe separately. Some onsen do have private facilities where you can bathe together. These would usually need to be booked.
When you visit an onsen you usually bathe naked. You will be expected to wash before getting in the springs – showering facilities are available. The showers are for washing, the onsen for soaking. Make sure you have washed all the soap suds and shampoo from your body before getting into the hot spring pool.
The situation may be changing as more tourists visit Japan, but some onsen may refuse entry for people with tattoos. This is still a taboo in Japan as tattoos are associated with yakuza gangsters. If your tattoo is small, cover it with a sticking plaster. If it is a large tattoo, check whether you will be permitted to bathe.
How To See The Snow Monkeys In Yudanaka
The Jigokudani Monkey Park is a few kilometres from Yudanaka town centre. Many hotels and ryokan will offer you a free ride to the snow monkey car park, so check at reception whether this is available. We booked a slot with our hotel and they kindly took us to the park in their minivan at a pre-arranged time.
If you can’t get a lift, there is a bus which goes from Yudanaka station. There are one or two per hour and it takes around 10 minutes to get to the park from there. It costs around 400 Yen. Ask at the station or your hotel for the timetable.
Once you have reached the car park, it’s a walk through a snowy forest to the monkey viewing onsen.
You will arrive at a ticket office and it costs 800 Yen to enter the park. You can stay as long as you like.
The monkeys are wild, although used to the presence of humans, so they will come down from the mountainside to go bathing whenever it suits them.
They tend to test the water for warmth…
…Before easing into the warm pool for a bathe.
The monkey viewing is popular so we recommend arriving early. It is important to keep a respectful distance from the monkeys and never approach them to touch them.
Other Things To Do In The Area
Although the monkey park is the main attraction there are plenty of other things to do in the region. A short train ride will take you to Obuse, a delightful town that is well worth visiting. If you like Hokusai, Japan’s best known ukiyo-e artist, we wholeheartedly recommend visiting the Hokusai museum . Ukiyo-e are artworks, commonly in the form of woodblock prints, that reflect Japanese culture during the 17th and 19th centuries.
Hokusai was most famous for his Great Wave Off Kanakawa artwork but did you know that this was actually one of a series of pictures of Mount Fuji? Although the dramatic Great Wave dominates the scene, you see Mount Fuji in the background. The picture is one from a series ‘Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji’. Hokusai also created a further series, ‘100 views of Mount Fuji’, and these were exhibited at the museum when we visited.
Obuse also has an interesting lamp and lantern museum showing the history of lighting in Japan over the centuries from the Edo (1603–1867) to the Taisho (1912–1926) periods. It has an amusingly disturbing sculpture outside.
There is a lovely temple in Obuse as well, with torii and stone lanterns.
Yudanaka and Obuse for Foodies
Obuse is famous for its chestnuts and there are many sweet shops where you can try delicious chestnut delicacies.
The chestnut logo is very popular – you can even see it on posters at the railway station.
Obuse also has a fantastic miso shop, Kokuhei Miso, where you can try – and buy – many different varieties of lovely miso paste, packed with umami. The delightful staff were happy to explain about the different types of miso and how they had been fermented. And they let us have a taste of each of them.
You can really get an appreciation for the different types of miso – the textures range from super-smooth to chunky, and the flavours run the gamut from sweet to salty to umami.
Back in Yudanaka there are plenty of restaurants and izakaya – drinking establishments – where you can order food and they offer standard Japanese fare.
The Sake Storehouse Art Museum – Gallery Tamamura Honten combines a brewery with an art gallery. Tastings of the local sake were available and we bought a couple of bottles to take home with us.
If you like craft beer, Yudanaka also has an excellent emporium which sells actual pints of beer. (This is quite unusual in Japan, where your beer normally arrives in bottles or smaller glasses with an enormous head on the beer which – to boozy Brits – sometimes feels you’re missing out on actual beer!)
The Farmhouse is located reasonably close to the monkey park. It is predominantly a bar but it does serve food, although to be honest, we found the food to be more in the realm of bar snacks than a proper meal. But the beer was superb! Note that it may have seasonal opening hours.
Final Thoughts
If you are travelling during to Japan during winter, watching the snow monkeys bathing is a fun activity. And if you also spend time enjoying a good soak with your own onsen bathing, it makes for a perfect day. But this region has so much more to offer. Obuse, in particular, was a delightful place to visit, so we recommend spending a little more time in this region so that you can experience the culture and the local food.
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A brilliant post!!!
Seeing the snow monkeys was a highlight for me during our travels in Japan.
All that miso looks incredible! 😋
Sally
What a cute and incredible experience! I would love to see the monkeys bath in the hot springs. I can totally see why this is so popular and you managed to get some great shots of the monkeys despite the packed platform with tourists.
I appreciate you also included the info that these hot springs are not just found in the national park for the monkeys but visitors can enjoy a dip at the onsen in the nearby settlements, too. The experience sounds a bit like a sauna session and I am pleased to hear these are separated for men and women. Trying a chestnut or two would also be on my list. You had me at the sweets shops and the chestnut looks like it is filled with marzipan 😀
Carolin | Solo Travel Story
What a lovely excursion. I gather these snow monkeys are not mischievous thieves like other species I’ve encountered in Bali and Costa Rica. The photos of the one checking the temperature and then soaking are wonderful. It’s good to read that there is much to keep me occupied after seeing the monkeys. I love a good hot spring soak, so this is right up my alley!
I wish we got to see the snow monkeys, but it was too warm when we were there and they most likely wouldn’t go in the hot baths, so we decided to skip it. What fun it would’ve been though to see monkeys in a hot spring then BE a monkey in a hot spring haha And of course a visit to the sweet shop
Oh my gosh, the little monkeys are so cute. What a great experience seeing them, and in the winter seems like a perfect time. Good tips on using the hot springs yourself too. Hey, if it’s good enough for the monkeys! I haven’t been to Japan yet but the more I see the more interesting it gets.
It’s great how close you were able to get to the monkeys without encroaching on their space, and you were able to get some nice shots even with the tourists in the area. Moving on to the food, i’d probably want to try the miso paste, it definitely reminds me of peanut butter or almond butter from the looks of it. Finally, the Sake Storehouse Art Museum sounds interesting, enjoying some good beer while checking out some good art sounds fun for sure.