Winter Trip: Part 2 (Nagano)

After snowboarding with an injured wrist and sleeping in a hostel full of loud Australians for a few days, I was happy to arrive in Nagano for the next part of my vacation. I was looking forward to doing a little sightseeing and staying in a comfortable hotel for a couple nights. I arrived in the city at night feeling completely exhausted. I quickly checked in to the hotel and passed out for a good night's rest.

Jigokudani Snow Monkey Park

I woke up bright and early the next morning and walked over to the station. The sun was slowly rising, the air was crisp, and a few wispy clouds floated in the sky. It knew it was going to be a good day. I hopped on a bus heading north towards Jigokudani Yaen-Koen (地獄谷野猿公苑). This translates to "Hell's Valley" (Jigokudani) "Monkey Park" (Yaen-Koen), named such for the area's incredible landscape. It's usually referred to as, "Jigokudani Monkey Park" or simply, "Snow Monkey Park" in English.

Getting there is a nice little journey and only accessible by foot. The nearest bus stop is Kanbayashi Onsen; from here it’s a short (1 km), mostly-uphill walk through some quiet streets until you reach a narrow walking path. From this point, it’s another (1.6 km) walk that whines through a forest and takes you deeper into the valley of Yokoyu River. Despite the very icy conditions, I enjoyed strolling along the path and felt like it was a nice part of the experience. Eventually, it opens up to an expansive, beautiful view of the river valley featuring pockets of steam and boiling water flanked by mountainous, wooded terrain (giving it the name “Hell’s Valley”). Just a bit further, a small resting house lies where you can buy tickets to venture further into the actual monkey park area.

Yokoyu River (pictured here is not the aforementioned resting house)

Snow Monkey Park is almost entirely natural and not at all fenced in. It’s not so much a “monkey park” per say... I would describe it as a place the land owners made more appealing for monkeys to hang out at, while also creating a way for people to see it. The monkey population consists of a large troop of wild Japanese Macaques. The monkeys live in the surrounding forests and are free to come and go as they please. They are very accustomed to humans and are highly passive; frankly they just don’t care about humans as long as they don’t feel particularly annoyed or bothered. The park indeed promotes this, so feeding or touching the monkeys is obviously prohibited.

Visitors are also free to roam around the premises, but the main draw is the famous monkey onsen (hot springs). Interestingly, some monkeys like relaxing in the hot springs whereas others do not. The monkeys are never forced to enter the hot springs but are sometimes temped when the staff through seeds into the water. Contrary to what I had previously read, I didn’t perceive this as being inhumane during my visit since the staff threw plenty of seeds everywhere, not only in the water.

Monkeys enjoying the steamy hot springs

Feelin' good: monkeys grooming each other

Japanese macaques are good swimmers

The little guy in the middle was too adorable

It was definitely a neat experience at Jigokudani Monkey Park. It's really interesting to watch the monkeys' behavior in such a unique environment. Over 100 monkeys live in the area and can be found everywhere, not only sitting in the hot springs. 

Looking monkeys in the eye can be seen as a sign of aggression. Oops.

I was there on a Tuesday, but also a public holiday, so unfortunately it was pretty busy during my visit. I loved the area but this was a unavoidable negative point. Another thing is, people are absolutely crazy about photography here (to a degree that can get a bit irritating). To be sure, I'm guilty of it too. But I tried to spend no more than 50% of my time taking pictures; otherwise I strolled around and enjoyed watching without my camera in hand. Overall I thought the place was amazing, but there were too many people on the day I went to fully enjoy it. It's open throughout the year, so perhaps I'll come back again.

Zenkō-ji Temple

Zenkō-ji Hondō (The Main Hall)

The next day, I stayed in town and took a short bus ride to a another famous Nagano destination, Zenkō-ji temple (善光寺). The Buddhist temple has a long history dating all the way back to the 7th century and is considered a national treasure. It has ties to several historically-significant events; and it was also the center of which Nagano City was later built around. The temple currently belongs to two Buddhist sects (Tendai and Jōdoshū). Perhaps one of the most interesting aspects revolves around a Buddha statue called Hibutsu, which apparently is hidden inside the temple or temple grounds. According to what I read, this statue was the very first Buddha image to be brought to Japan and is strictly forbidden to be seen by anyone, including the chief priest of the temple. Instead, a replica is displayed once every six years. It makes me wonder... if no one can see the real statue, how do they know it actually exists today?

On the other hand, another statue called Binzuru is openly displayed to the public. Said to have been a physician, visitors touch and rub the statue in order to cure or ward off illness and ailments. I was surprised to see some people rubbing the statue excessively for a long time; a slightly awkward experience while I was there...

Man rubbing the Binzuru statue inside the man hall

Further inside the temple, visitors can go inside an inner prayer chamber (for a fee).
According to wikipedia, this also leads to another dark corridor where, "worshippers try to touch a metal key hanging on the wall, in order to gain enlightenment. The key represents the Key to the Western Paradise of the Amida Buddha" (the principal figure in Pure Land Buddhism). It sounds really interesting, but unfortunately I didn't see any of this because I simply didn't know about during my visit (which is why I had to quote wikipedia here).

I thought it was nice to leisurely wander around the temple grounds. Just outside of the main hall is a large incense burner. Here, visitors fan incense smoke towards them for good health and fortune. Morning ceremonies also take place here.

  Large incense burner at Zenkō-ji

Around the side and rear of the main hall are some nice little paths, garden, three-tier pogoda, chief priest's residence, treasure house, and more.

There are many, many temples throughout Japan and I've been to a few really amazing ones. But I would have to say this was one of the more interesting temples I've been to in awhile, and I was delighted to spend a few hours there. By early afternoon, I returned to the station and took off for the last part of my winter vacation--New Years in Tokyo!

Winter Trip: Part 1 (Hakuba)

Japan Alps, viewed from Nagano on a clear day

I spent a lot of time trying to figure out my winter vacation plans this year; I looked at traveling to Thailand and Vietnam, but eventually settled on staying in Japan. I made plans to snowboard in Hakuba, go sightseeing in Nagano, and celebrate New Years Eve in Tokyo. 

The first part of my trip was in Hakuba, a ski resort town located in the Kitazumi District of Nagano Prefecture. Surrounded by the Japan Alps, it’s one of the top destinations for skiing and snowboarding in the country. The area features numerous ski resorts, including those used in the 1998 Winter Olympic Games. I left Aomori late Christmas night and took a couple long bus rides before arriving the following afternoon. I showered, ate dinner, and got to bed early for a good night rest at a small hostel (review here) near the mountains.

Day 1 (Happo One)

Left: first day on the slopes; Right: third day morning photos

On my first day of snowboarding, I decided to check out the biggest and most famous resort in Hakuba, called Happo One. I walked there right as it was opening and jumped on a chair lift. As it ascended upward, the snow conditions looked decent and visibility was good. But halfway up, the mountain became engulfed in thick, blizzardy cloud. 

Riding up the same lift, visibility changed quickly 

Terrible visibility. Annoying, but nothing I hadn’t experienced before. I hopped off the first lift and took another higher up the mountain. That turned out to be a bad decision—once off the lift I peered down the mountain and realized that I had no sense of orientation. The conditions alone wouldn't have been an issue, as long as I was familiar with the mountain (which clearly I wasn't). Nevertheless, I started to descend below the chair lift lines since it was the only reference point I had. Little did I know, I was heading directly towards mogul death trap from hell. Suddenly I hit one without warning and slammed my wrist into the ground awkwardly. I heard a "pop" and felt immediate pain but luckily no bones were sticking out so I figured I was okay. More than anything, I was ticked off that it happened on the very first run but I was too stubborn to quit boarding and waste a day getting it checked out. So I just avoided that area of the mountain and kept going the rest of the day...

The weather cleared up by late afternoon

Happo One is a very large resort. There are over a dozen courses and I believe it boasts the highest elevation of resorts in the area. Yet I honestly found it to be overrated. I went on every course but felt they were generally boring. Since so many people were there, the fresh snowfall from the prior night was quickly flattened to hard icy stuff on most of the runs. There were moguls everywhere, but no jumps nor any terrain to really play around on. I'm not trying to bash the place; I imagine it's fun for skiers and certain individuals. Also, my opinion is obviously biased since I hurt my wrist and rode in poor weather conditions there. Ultimately, I'm glad I went for the experience. It's not necessarily a bad resort, just not very fun for me personally.

Anyway, in the last hour before the resort closed, the pain in my wrist was getting unbearable so left for the local clinic. I waited for an hour, got an x-ray, then saw the doctor for all of 1 minute. He said nothing was broken and nothing was dislocated, but "something" was injured. The nurse wrapped my arm up in a splint and I received pain killers. The doctor told me to rest my arm until I returned to Aomori and then see my local doctor to get it further examined. In my mind this was good enough to keep boarding for the next two days. I did get my wrist re-examined in Aomori just a day before writing this post. The doctor said there aren't any major problems and it should be completely healed in two weeks.

No fractures or dislocations (good thing I drink a lot of milk!)

Day 2 (Goryu & Hakuba 47)

Left: Goryu; Right: Hakuba 47

On my second day of boarding, I went to two joined resorts called Goryu and Hakuba 47, which are located just south of Happo One. From what I heard, Goryu was first built and operated independently. Hakuba 47 was built later, and the two resorts teamed up offering access to both resorts with a single lift ticket (nice deal!). Each resorts' trails are separated but can be accessed from a central point at the top of the mountain.

I really liked this place because the terrain was diverse and it felt much more snowboarder-friendly. There was a compact but fun terrain park with a good halfpipe, three medium-sized kickers, one large kicker, and a few rails. A lift operates specifically for this area too, which is nice. Besides the terrain park, there were also a few areas where I found some fun little rollers and jumps. Considering my wrist injury, I stayed away from the kickers but still had fun on the halfpipe and smaller jumps. On the top half of the mountain, I was able to find some powder sections, even in the afternoon. The bottom half of Goryu was packed with beginners flopping all over the place, but as long as I stayed away from that area, I was really happy with these resorts.

Originally I had planned to go out somewhere that night since it was Saturday. I thought it would be nice to get dinner and check out a bar or two for a drink. I changed my plan though, and determined it would be better to rest my arm and take it easy for the night.

Day 3 (Iwatake)

At Iwatake on my final day, lucky to have great weather

Unlike my first two days in Hakuba, I hadn't previously made plans to go to any one particular resort. However, I heard about Iwatake from another guest at the hostel one night earlier. Out of curiosity, I looked it up online. It was described as small and compact with spectacular views of the Japan Alps. Since the weather reports indicated clear skies, it sounded like the perfect way to close out my snowboard trip.

The instant I woke up next morning, I scattered to the nearest window and cheerfully smiled. The weather looked awesome, finally! I captured a few photos of Happo One then grabbed the first shuttle bus to the resort. Upon arrival, a long line had formed behind the ticket windows. It wasn't easy waiting in line while looking up at the fresh snow and blue skies above, but before too long I was on the gondola scooting up the mountain. I didn't experience any problems with long lines for the rest of the day though, since I mostly avoided the gondola and used lifts instead.

I really enjoyed Iwatake. It's a bit smaller than the other resorts, but well laid out. It doesn't have super long runs, but many are nice and wide. Park management caters powerhounds really well; most runs are only groomed in the center while leaving plenty of space on either side untouched. Additionally, there are a few sections that are left completely ungroomed. This includes a really fun little expert course on the backside of the mountain that had excellent powder on the day I was there. This side of the mountain, has some pretty expansive areas of powder to ride--relatively short but wide enough to stay decent all morning. Lastly, I found a few decently-sized rollers with a great, fast approach. I had a blast flying down the mountain and getting some nice air on these during the day.

There's also something to be said about the mountain atmosphere. I loved the small-mountain culture present, with very friendly staff and a pretty good group of fellow skiers/snowboarders. I'm sure the weather made a big difference, but I was able to meet a lot of very friendly people here.

Perfect day at Iwatake

The snow conditions at Iwatake were very good all morning. However, most of the powder was all gone by lunchtime. I also had to get my deposit (for electronic lift lift) back from Goryu/Hakuba 47. Thus, I actually ended the day at Hakuba 47. I got there with about two hours left before closing and hit the halfpipe a few times and snuck in a few extra runs as the sun set below behind the mountainous landscape. I rushed back to the hostel, quickly packed my things, and hopped on a bus to Nagano. What started off as a pretty bad experience in Hakuba, thankfully ended very well.