all photos property of yudanakasnowmonkeys.blogspot.com

A Snow Monkey in the mountains of Yudanaka - along the western side of the large Honshu island.  It looks content, for the moment.

Getting to the site to view the snow monkeys is a little adventurous and is accessible by bus.  Get off at the Kanbayashi Onsen bus stop.






The picture below is the entrance sign.  It is a very nice, easy hike.  About a mile through a peaceful, ancient forest with a nice wide pathway.

This park hosts a live web cam of the snow monkeys, be sure to click on the links at the left side of the site for different times of the day.  Open all year long.  Admission:  Adult ¥500, Children ¥250.

Along the path, there are plenty of photo ops and even some wildlife to be seen if you have the patience.  We wanted to get right to the highlight, though.

The path leading to Jigokudani and the Snow Monkeys.

A limited view of the valley through a break in the trees, still on the path.

Shortly after this, you'll arrive at the onsen.  Look for a small sign explaining that some of the natural hot springs are designated for the monkeys only.  Also, you're not allowed to feed the monkeys, or else they get too fat.

Jigokudani Onsen

The Jigokudani Onsen.  Past this is the snow monkey entrance, where a small fee is collected.  However, you can usually catch your first glimpse of snow monkeys here, such as the ones in the pics below.

Check out this cool spider I saw on the hand rail - I just had to get a good shot of it.

The monkeys are always looking for food.  I have no idea what they keep picking up and eating. I imagine they're bugs.

Searching for things to eat.

Not surprising, they also like to groom each other.  I guess it's another food source because they always eat whatever it is they pick off their friends.

Mom and Dad relaxing while their son is nearby combing the ground for food.

Finally, some pics of the monkeys relaxing in the hot springs...

A view of one of the pools that the monkeys enjoy.

One last look at the Jigokudani onsen-inn as the day comes to a close and the sun will soon set.  So even though you can see the monkey park in less than a day, it takes a while to get to the old town of Yudanaka.  There is a very old train you must take to get into town, it's about an hours ride. We stayed overnight in a nearby Ryokan.

It says "yama no uchi" which means something like the mountain house.

Often, I find decorative manhole covers where ever I go in Japan.  Some are even painted nicely.  This one is on the trail going to the monkey park.  

The town of Yudanaka itself has a very old-style feel about it.  Please check out the Yudanaka page on this site.

Related articles

• Snow Monkeys
• Snow monkeys know how to deal with the cold
• Five of Japan's most unique snow-covered hot spring bathing sites