Jigokudani Monkey Park in Nagano Prefecture, where the monkeys bathe in a natural hot spring (Photo: Ben Beechey)

Bathing Apes in Rural Nagano

A visit to Jigokudani Monkey Park

Ben Beechey   - 1 min read

Jigokudani Monkey park is located in Nagano Prefecture, about 40 minutes by bus from Nagano station. The park is famous for, as should be obvious from the pictures, the monkeys bathing in the natural hot spring there. Though it is called a ‘park’, it is really more a level platform on a mountain with a small hot spring on it. It’s quite an isolated location, but certainly worth the visit.

More info

Find out more about Jigokudani Monkey Park.

Ben Beechey

Ben Beechey @ben.beechey

I moved to Japan in late 2007 and lived in the beautiful mountainous setting of Nagano-ken for two very fun years. Although the scenery in Nagano was stunning and the snowboarding conditions second to none, I decided to try life in the fast lane and moved to Tokyo in 2009. I have been in Tokyo si...