Jigokudani Yaenkoen (Snow Monkey Park)

     For this week, let's take a look on how Japanese macaques spend their winter.

     Jigokudani Yaenkoen, nicknamed Jigokudani Monkey Park, is located in the Valley of Yokoyu River sourced from Shigakogen of the Joshinetsu Kogen National Park in Yamanouchi, Shimotakai District, Nagano prefecture, Japan. The name "Jigokudani" means "Hell's Valley" because of the steep cliffs, the steam and bubbles coming off the springs, and the cold and gloomy forest. The heavy snowfalls make this place buried in snow almost one third of the year. Under this severe environment, however, it is a paradise for the Japanese macaques to live in. The Japanese macaque is a monkey species native to northern Japan. It is also known as snow monkey because its body is always covered by snow in winter. They have brown-gray fur, a red face, hands and bottoms, and a short tail. During the cold winter, snow monkeys enjoy bathing in the hot spring winter to stay warm. They play and take a leisurely onsen (hot spring). These snow monkeys attract a big amount of visitors every year. Visitors watch them bathing and playing, however, these snow monkeys basically just ignore them and continue enjoying their hot spring.

This snow monkey really enjoys the hot spring! ^^

Bathing

Playing