So many people have already made this trip to see the snow monkeys at Jigokudani Monkey Park that it’s hard to really add any further value in any blog post about our visit. But perhaps I’d angle my post here more towards the experience, the trek up, and also things to pay attention to.
The most important bit is this: the snow monkey park is located inside the much larger Joshinetsu-Kogen National Park in the northern part of Nagano. From what we read, this park is covered in snow for almost a third of every year, and the Japanese monkeys – Macaques – live in the mountainous area, and during winter season will descend on this one spot to bathe in the hot springs. What this basically means for visitors is that in order to get into this monkey ‘onsen’ area, you’d need to walk in – all 1.6 km in, and 1.6 km back. The distance itself isn’t the issue, nor its elevation: aside from a small flight of steps at the entrance into the snow monkey park, another towards the monkey onsen pool, there are just the gentlest of slopes at several parts of the path. Rather, it is that in winter, the entire length of the 1.6km path itself is muddy and/or slippery. You’d need to ensure you have proper foot wear with good grip, and don’t wear pants that reach past your ankle, as they’d be coated with mud by the time you leave!
The monkeys themselves are also very tame and docile, and they will generally ignore and not engage humans. Many will basically scoot past you as they scurry from the pool to the steep hill just opposite it. There is numerous signage reminding visitors that they must not touch the monkeys, as they can become aggressive. Nor should you engage in starring contests with them, as they might likewise feel threatened.
Our guide compared the snow monkeys here to the other world famous monkey resort – the Bali monkey park of course, and that the Balinese monkeys are reportedly extremely aggressive. We couldn’t agree more: we’ve been there twice now, and the monkeys, cute as they are, do not fear humans and are known to descend on them to snatch food! So, if you have a fear of getting assulted by these primates because of prior experiences at the Bali Monkey Sanctuary, fear not: the residents of Jigokudani Snow Monkey Park will come very near you, but they will not interact with you.
The actual monkey gathering and pool area isn’t very big, so if you’re bringing ILCs to take pictures, something that is constant aperture and variable zoom, e.g. 70-200mm f2.8, would be perfect. A fixed focal prime like a 50mm or 75mm would work well too. Just remember that if you’re bringing fixed focals, you’d need to move a lot with your feet to get the right framing. The monkeys can move fast, and the area can also get crowded!
Talking about crowds; we reached the pool area at about 3PM, and there were quite a number of visitors also there at this time. The visitors were for the most part very well-behaved, and we saw none of the animal baiting for vanity selfies routine nor pushing and shoving at other places, e.g. at the Otaru Aquarium in Hokkaido during our 2019 visit. This was perhaps also in part that there are a number of park rangers around to make sure people behave!
Next, the park closes at 4PM. If you’re visiting in winter, staying till you’re forced out at closing time and intending to take a nice slow and romantic walk back to the exit instead of a brisk 30 minute where you run for the exit, consider bringing some light illumination. The trail does not look lit at night, and coupled with it being slippery, you really would not want to fall! The trail cuts through very steep elevation that go quite a distance down.
Finally, pictures. It was pretty tough taking pictures of the monkeys in the hotspring. Not because the place was crowded: the Sony A6600 and 18-135mm travel lens would had been normally more than up to the task. Rather, the steam vapours from the hotsprings meant that the lens finding the correct focus points.
That’s a wrap for Day 16. We’d be leaving Matsumoto tomorrow morning and heading back to Tokyo to spend our last night in Japan. To be continued!