The legendary status comes from being part of a national park with Japanese Macaques hanging out in a hot spring. At the Jigokudani Monkey Park, the word hanging out in the onsen is a commercial description when in fact there's a hierarchy order of leadership within their species. The Japanese Macaques hierarchy order is always posted at the entrance of the Jigokudani Monkey Park, which opened in 1964. It was given the name "Hell's Valley" or Jigokudani, due to the steep dangerous cliffs and the hot springs that erupt out of the earth's surface within the park.
The temperatures drop past below -15 °C, forcing the Japanese Macaques to survive by embracing each other.
For the ones that are part of the monkey hierarchy, use the hot springs to stay warm and bathe their families.
At the furthest point of the Monkey Park is the famed onsen (hot spring) where hundreds come everyday, to see the Japanese Macaques bathe.
Seeing the amount of visitors packed together, some holding still for 30 minutes at a time, just to take their perfect picture of their favorite macaque is quite awesome.
Below the onsen, along the way the river flows, you can find many monkeys clinging to each other it to stay warm.
They depend on each other for survival and some even interact with the park's guests.
On our visit, one monkey took a special liking to a photographer's beenie cap and was aggressively advancing. The little monkey was determined to have the beenie cap by force and I eventually had to run over there and scare him away. Luckily this time, no monkeys or humans were hurt in the beenie cap clash.
Our trip to the Jigokudani Monkey Park turned out to be legendary, from the hike up to also being given access to hang out with these remarkable creatures in their natural habitat during the brutal winter. I felt so peaceful at one point, so grateful at all points and the honor was truly all ours for the opportunity to hang out with the legendary Japanese Macaques.
Thanks for joining us on So Travel Today 8 and please be sure to book your next trip at www.sotravel.today.
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