is located in Yamanouchi,

Nagano Prefecture is a landlocked prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshū. Nagano Prefecture has a population of 2,052,493 () and has a geographic area of . Nagano Prefecture borders Niigata Prefecture to the north, Gunma Prefecture to the ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. It is part of the Joshinetsu Kogen National Park (locally known as Shigakogen), and is located in the valley of the Yokoyu-River, in the northern part of the prefecture. The name Jigokudani, meaning "Hell's Valley", is due to the steam and boiling water that bubbles out of small crevices in the frozen ground, surrounded by steep cliffs and formidably cold and hostile forests. The heavy snowfalls (snow covers the ground for four months a year), an elevation of , and being only accessible via a narrow footpath through the forest, keeps it uncrowded despite the park being relatively well known. It is famous for its large population of wild

Japanese macaque The Japanese macaque (''Macaca fuscata''), also known as the snow monkey, is a terrestrial Old World monkey species that is native to Japan. Colloquially, they are referred to as "snow monkeys" because some live in areas where snow covers the gr ...

s (''Macaca fuscata''), more commonly referred to as snow monkeys, that go to the valley during the winter, foraging elsewhere in the national park during the warmer months. The monkeys descend from the steep cliffs and forest to sit in the warm waters of the

onsen In Japan, are the country's hot springs and the bathing facilities and traditional inns around them. As a volcanically active country, Japan has many onsens scattered throughout all of its major islands. There are approximately 25,000 hot ...

(hotsprings), and return to the security of the forests in the evenings. However, since the monkeys are fed by park attendants, they are in the area of the hot springs all the year round, and a visit at any season will enable the visitor to observe hundreds of the macaques. Jigokudani is not the farthest north that monkeys live. The Shimokita Peninsula is at the northern part of the Honshū island and the northwest area of this peninsula, latitude +41°31' longitude +140°56', approximately north from Jigokudani is the northern limit of Japanese macaque habitat. No (non-human) primate is known to live in a colder climate. The Jigokudani monkey park became famous after appearing in the documentary ''Baraka''. Baby snowmonkey

Gallery

File:Kopfstudie eines Japanmakaken (Macaca fuscata) im Jigokudani Yaen Kōen, Japan.jpg, Headshot of a

at Jigokudani Monkey Park File:Jigokudani hotspring in Nagano Japan 001.jpg,

Macaques The macaques () constitute a genus (''Macaca'') of sociality, gregarious Old World monkeys of the subfamily Cercopithecinae. The 23 species of macaques inhabit species distribution, ranges throughout Asia, North Africa, and (in barbary macaques ...

enjoying an

in Jigokudani Monkey Park File:Juveniler Japanmakak (Macaca fuscata) im Jigokudani Yaen Kōen.jpg, Young Japanese macaque at the Jigokudani Monkey Park File:Japanese Macaque Fuscata Image 370.jpg, An alpha male at the Jigokudani Monkey Park File:Japanmakaken im Jigokudani Monkey Park bei der Fellpflege.webm, Japanese macaques grooming each other (video)

References

External links

{{Wikispecies, Macaca fuscata, Japanese macaque
Jigokudani Monkey Park (Yaen-Koen) Official Site

SNOW MONKEY RESORTS Official Site

Enter the park through Google Street View

Zeno's Guide to Jigokudani Monkey park

Jigokudani Snow Monkey Live Cam and general info
Tourist attractions in Nagano Prefecture Hot springs of Japan Geography of Nagano Prefecture Monkey parks Articles containing video clips Yamanouchi, Nagano