Jigokudani Snow Monkey Park

>> Accommodation in Yamanouchi (new window)

>> Shiga Kogen Accomodation Spotlights (SnowJapan)You might not have heard that name but you have probably heard about a place in Nagano where you can see "snow monkeys" (Japanese Macaque) chilling out in an onsen hot spring.I had often heard about Jidokudani and even driven past the entrance on the way up to Shiga Kogen more than a few times, but until recently I had never actually stopped to check it out.  I suppose I was always in too much of a rush to get to the snow at Shiga Kogen.  I now wish I had found out about it earlier....The Jigokudani Yaenkoen park opened in 1964 and since then many thousands of people from around the world have visited the park to observe the lifestyle of the Japanese Macaque.  The Japanese Macaque (Macaca fuscata) is a monkey species native to northern Japan, and is the most northern-living non-human primate, surviving winter temperatures of below -15 °C.  They have brown-gray fur, a red face, hands and bottom, and a short tail - and often seem remarkably human like.