After something of a hiatus with back with our October photoblog for the Jigokudani Monkey Park. Thanks to COVID, the past few months have been exceedingly quiet around Nagano and at the park. But as we enjoy the beauty of autumn and look towards winter, this a looking positive as things gradually open-up and visitors are trickling back.
For anyone headed to Nagano in the next week or two, you still have a chance to see some beautiful autumn leaves around the park and Nagano. A little later than usually, the leaves are looking fantastic right now with the mountain rising-up behind the monkey park putting on a spectacular show of colour.
The monkeys are somewhat unreliable this time of year and don’t keep to their usually predictable behaviour of coming to the park early and staying all day. There’s a couple of reasons for this. Firstly, it’s mating season meaning that the monkeys are distracted and the males are running about causing trouble, making the overall behaviour of the troop a little erratic. Adding to this, autumn is the time when there’s the great abundance of food in the forest – and not just a lot of it, but the tastiest nuts, fruit and berries of the year!
With those two factors, the arrival and departure times of the troop is hard to predict and sadly, there are some days in autumn when only a small number of monkeys will be found in the park or on the odd occasion, none at all.
To avoid being disappointed, we recommend heading to the park in the early afternoon. It’s much more likely that the monkeys come late than not at all, often showing-up in the late morning or early afternoon during autumn.
Our longest-running and most popular tour, 1-Day Snow Monkeys, Zenko-ji Temple & Sake in Nagano is available every day of year and combines an afternoon visit to the park with morning exploration of Nagano’s near-1400 year old Zenko-ji along with ‘sake’ tasting and lunch in Nagano City – just one of many tours we’ll be operating this winter as we welcome in season 2021/22!
As we head into November all eyes turn to winter. The forecast is for colder than usual temperatures this winter with a likelihood of early snow in Nagano. So with that news, it’s time to book your winter getaway to Nagano for season 2021/22. Our ‘Winter Deals in Nagano 2021/22’ page lists all of our winter tours, ski packages, accommodation and more. Home to more than eighty ski resorts and some of the best skiing and snowboarding in Asia, Nagano is a true winter playground, within easy reach of Tokyo, Nagoya, Kyoto & Osaka.
JAPAN SKI RESORTS: EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW
Boasting some of Japan’s best ski resorts including Shiga Kogen, Nozawa Onsen and the resorts of Hakuba, Nagano spoils visitors when it comes to choosing their winter getaway. Our ‘Japan Ski Resorts’ page has everything you need to know to start planning your ski and snowboard adventure including: LATEST NEWS & DEALS, THE BEST RESORTS IN NAGANO & JAPAN, FAQs and of course OUR SKI PACKAGES, ACCOMMODATION, TRANSPORT & TOURS.
25 THINGS TO DO AROUND THE PARK & WHERE TO STAY
Often referred to as the Snow Monkey Park, you’d be forgiven for thinking the park is only open and the monkeys only venture there in winter. While it’s true they are most famous for their winter antics, the monkeys come to the park all year round and there are just as many reasons to visit in spring, summer and autumn. Located in the beautiful rural enclave of Yamanouchi and within easy reach of Nagano City, visiting the park can be easily combined with plenty of nearby destinations and activities, as a day-trip or multi-day visit. Our ’25 Things To Do Around The Jigokudani Monkey Park & Where To Stay’ page has lots of tips and suggestions of what’s on offer and the best area to stay when visiting the monkeys.
