Culture, attractions
and entertainment
In the depths of the largest island of the Japanese archipelago, Honshu, there is an amazing place where in winter, among the snow, you can see... monkeys! These are the famous “snow monkeys” - Japanese macaques - the only primates of their kind that can live at subzero temperatures. Their range is the northernmost in the world for monkeys. However, snow monkeys are not famous for their love of frost. They gained worldwide fame literally a few decades ago, when people began to notice that these monkeys, who from time immemorial had lived here, among the mountains and forests, got into the habit of... taking an open-air bath in onsen - hot thermal springs!
This is truly a unique sight. An entire flock, consisting of dozens of furry individuals led by leaders, can sit all day long in the scalding mineral waters, evaporating in the frosty air. You can understand the monkeys: due to the peculiarities of the local mountain microclimate, the air temperature can easily drop to -20 degrees Celsius, while the water in the local onsens warms up to +43 degrees! If it is winter, then macaques usually climb into the water in the morning and wait until the sun warms the air a little so that they can go out in search of food. But if the weather is particularly cold, then the monkeys can sit up to their necks in water all day: after all, in the cold, wet fur freezes very quickly. During such severe frosts, the mission of finding food falls on the shoulders of two or three individuals, who are engaged in obtaining food for everyone.
Moreover, in recent decades, when snow monkeys, having seen enough, as scientists have established, of people, also began to bask in the waters of hot thermal springs, the problem of obtaining food has become much less acute: now they are often fed by numerous tourists gathering on neighboring shores. And on winter evenings you can watch how macaques bury the remains of provisions in the snow, creating supplies for tomorrow. Thus, the local monkeys already enjoy two benefits of developed human civilization at once: hot baths and a refrigerator!
This wonderful place, Jigokudani Monkey Park, is located near the town of Yamanouchi, in Nagano Prefecture, famous for its ski resorts. The best time to visit Jigokudani is late winter or early spring, when the severe frosts have already subsided, but the snow cover remains, preventing the paths from turning into rivers of mud.
Despite the fact that the name “Jigokudani” itself means “Valley of Hell” - due to the abundance of sulfur geysers gushing out of the ground here - these places have become a true paradise for snow monkeys!
Top