Jigokudani Monkey Park Onsen
- Location
- Yamanouchi Nagano, Japan
- Water type
- bicarbonate, sodium chloride
- Temperature
- 40 °C
- pH
- 7.8
Water profile
Relaxing — deep, immediate muscle release.
Loaded with major ions — the essential minerals (Ca, Mg).
Dense, salty water — you float without effort.
Jigokudani, meaning Hell's Valley, is a famous wild hot spring valley in Yamanouchi, Nagano Prefecture, central Honshu, world-renowned as the habitat of the Japanese macaques (snow monkeys) that descend from surrounding cedar forests to warm themselves in sodium-rich thermal pools during harsh winter snowfalls. The geothermal area sits at an elevation of 850 metres and is accessible via a forest trail, and the sight of red-faced monkeys serenely bathing in winter mist while snowflakes fall is one of the most iconic wildlife spectacles in Japan. The name derives from the steam jets and bubbling springs that emerge from the steep rocky slopes, creating an otherworldly landscape of volcanic activity amid primordial Japanese mountain forest.