Japan - The Snow monkeys of Jigokudani

For those who love travelling, you must have a bucket list, otherwise, how do you decide on your next adventure? But how this is amassed is a different question, although the name of my website gives you a clue to my inspiration. Back in my younger years, an article in the National Geographic magazine introduced me to the Snow Monkeys near Nagano. From that point onwards fuelled further by TV documentaries, this was one of a handful of ambitions which just wouldn’t go away from my thoughts, although Japan, in general, was not high up on my country list.

Decades later and the pursuit of the prestigious Abbots Six star finishers medal for Marathon running saw me booked into the Tokyo marathon in early March 2019, finally a chance had presented itself. As the name suggests, the snow season is when the monkeys frequent the onsen (hot spring) on the edge of the Joshin’etsukogen National Park, with research suggesting the snows would be melting in late Feb. Would I get that iconic snow monkey shot in the pool I had always dreamed about?

The main hot spring (on the left) used by the Snow Monkeys

Created in 1964, the Jigokudani park is now home to a troop of Japanese macaques numbering some 160 in total. During the ’50s, the troop moved to the lower slopes after being pushed out of their original home by the building of the snow resorts which dominate the area.

They soon encountered the outdoor hot springs used by humans and can only assume copied the human behaviour with the first recorded instance in January 1963 with the first published photograph taken in the winter of 1963/64. Over the next couple of years, the behaviour was copied by the younger members of the troop eventually spreading to the older generation. Today it’s still the only place in the world where monkeys are known to immerse themselves in hot springs.

The park is a major tourist attraction with some 240K people visiting in 2017 so can get very busy in the peak months (December - March) with the park staff feeding the monkeys daily with grain as an incentive. Studies have shown the troop has a gender split of some two-thirds being female with the dominant male Toami, leading the troop in a typical hierarchical social structure. Living to some 30-40 years of age, their thick fur allows them to endure temperatures of -14C.

The Alpha male - Toami

So the day came, the 1st March and my one shot to catch a Snow Monkey in a hot spring. A day trip from Tokyo may seem ambitious by some but was surprisingly easy thanks to the speediness of the Bullet trains to Nagano. Picking up a pre-arranged tour from the station, it turned out I was the only person booked for that day so had a 1:1 with the guide. A mixture of another local train and minibus ride would take me to the park entrance.

If I’m honest, I thought my quest in getting that photograph was 50:50 and was already resigned to the thought of just seeing the snow monkeys on the slopes.

However on arrival, we were confronted with a live TV feed at the entrance showing a snow monkey in the hot spring, my heart skipped a beat, would it still there when I reached the pool? It was a 1.6km walk through the trees into the valley along a slippery snow-covered path, so progress was slow..

An small indoor hot spring complex used by humans saw a mother and youngster laid outside inviting a photoshoot, but finally some half an hour later, we reached the main pool with lots of monkeys on view but none in the hot spring.

The troop were foraging amongst the boulders with a number of youngsters climbing a fence and playing rough and tumble, so adorable.

Suddenly I heard a splash. One of the monkeys was in the hot spring. A scramble with the camera saw the shot captured but even better, a second entered, with some sort of disagreement taking place resulting with one swimming across and clinging to the pool edge just a few feet away. The sense of fulfilment was immense, with that feeling of having seen something a little special.

Some five minutes later both had climbed out. OK, it wasn’t the iconic shot with a dusting of snow on their fur, but I was happy. The rest of my time could be spent photographing the female groups scattered close by.

If you have the chance to visit, many trips will also include a visit to the nearly Zenko-Ji Temple founded in the 7th century and home to the first Buddhist statue to be brought into Japan, although the current main hall was built in 1707. Don’t miss walking along the corridor below the temple in an attempt to touch the metal key in order to gain enlightenment. The catch being you will be in total darkness!

Zenko-Ji Temple (Main Hall)

So there you go, the iconic snow monkeys, yes it can be busy with people with everyone wanting to witness that iconic moment, but the Snow Monkeys seemed happy enough going about their daily business. For me, that was a major bucket list item ticked.