Jigokudani Yaen-Koen Snow Monkey Park was added to Your Favorites!
Joshin’etsukogen NP, Nagano
Claim this place to tell your story your way.
The macaques’ bathing story began at nearby Korakukan inn, founded in 1864: young monkeys started using its outdoor bath. The park later built them a separate pool so people and monkeys wouldn’t share the same tub.
Hot-spring bathing is learned, not an instinct shared by macaques everywhere: Jigokudani is the only known troop that regularly soaks. The behavior was recorded here by 1962, and mothers pass it to their young.
In a study of 12 adult females, winter bathing was linked to lower stress-hormone levels; higher-ranking macaques soaked longer. Researchers also found no measurable hormone effect from roughly 500 daily visitors.
Opened in 1964 partly to ease macaque–farmer conflict, the park lets the troop roam freely. Staff provide barley, apples and soybeans; visitors aren’t allowed to feed the monkeys.
After dawn, macaques forage in the surrounding forest, then visit the park to feed and rest. Near dusk they leave to forage and sleep elsewhere; they don’t have a permanent nest, and their sleeping spot changes.
The park honors its first-ranked male with the title Ryuo (龍王, “Dragon King”). Its staff also challenge the movie-style boss-monkey stereotype: they say the top male isn’t constantly battling for a throne.
Nearby Shibu Jigokudani Funsen, a designated national natural monument, continuously sends water close to 100°C into the air. Unlike a geyser that erupts at intervals, this steaming spectacle doesn’t wait between bursts.
Jigokudani’s snow monkeys appeared on the cover of LIFE magazine in 1970. Their international profile grew further when athletes, reporters and visitors came to the park during the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics.
The macaques don’t soak to get clean, and some don’t enjoy bathing at all. They use the hot spring mainly to cope with winter cold; when the weather is warm, they rarely get in.
