Monkey business….

Starting early we packed up ready to go to
The Jigokudani Yaen-koen Monkey Park. A detour of a couple of hours but our excitement would keep us going. We stopped on route for a quick breakfast by a lake.

Joshinetsu-Kogen National Park is found in the northern part of Nagano prefecture. We traveled through stunning mountain scenery. Everything seems bigger in Japan. The escalators are longer and steeper, lifts fly up to dizzying heights and mountain ranges go on for ever. A fear of heights is fast developing I think. 75% of Japan is covered in mountains so if you live here you get used to the helter-skelter of getting from A to B.
Because of the very steep cliffs and the steam coming off the springs everywhere, ancient people called this valley ‘Jigokudani (Hell valley)’ .
But as we got nearer it looked nearer to heaven than hell.

As we completed the last 1. 4km we noticed a sign stating to be careful as bears were in the area. It’s hard to believe Japan has bears, but we saw an interesting documentary about them and how one professor has made it his life’s work to save them.

The car park is 1km away from where the monkeys are. The troops of wild Japanese macaque (they are popularly known as snow monkeys) have inhabited here naturally through the ages, undeterred by the often harsh environment. Seeing the place on a sweltering day it is hard to believe that the area is covered in snow for a third of the year. The altitude is 850 metres, winter seasons in Jigokudani are so harsh, for example, temperatures drop to 10 degrees below zero and snow falls over 1 metre.

I don’t think I have ever walked 1km up hill in ridiculous humidity as quickly as I did. I was fired up with anticipation. Some sites say that in the summer appearances are fewer as the monkeys are not drawn to the warmth of the hot springs as much. On route I asked a few people who were descending if they had seen any. I must have seem a tad rabid!

The park has no fences so that monkeys can come and go freely, so it really is hit or miss if you see them. There are also many rules accompanying the visit, all of which are in place to protect the monkeys. No food or drink etc.

Rounding the corner as we got through the entrance we spied a lone monkey. Just seeing one completely raised my spirits but rounding the next corner the area was awash with them.

We spent hours just watching them. It was amazing, wonderful and emotional.

There were monkeys of all ages and sizes and they were just getting on with their normal business, paying no heed to us.
The Japanese Macaque is a diurnal animal. They start moving in the early morning and spend time for foraging or resting all day long. When night falls, they find the nest of the day and go to sleep. On the next day they repeat the same behaviours. They seemed to spend an inordinate time grooming each other, sometimes in groups of 5!

The smaller monkeys spent their time running around, play fighting and falling over. I wanted to pop one in my pock and bring it home. Thank god there are no monkey cafes!