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.
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| Monkeys enjoying the steamy hot springs |
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| Feelin' good: monkeys grooming each other |
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| Japanese macaques are good swimmers |
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| 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.
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| 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
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...
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.
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!
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| 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...
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| 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.
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| 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!
