冬 WINTER · DECEMBER–MARCH · THE POSTCARD
The four months the photograph is possible
December to March is the only stretch when the bath is in daily use, because it is the only stretch when the air makes it worth using. Everything else about a winter visit — the crowd, the ice on the trail, the short day — follows from that one fact.
Mean air −0.4 to 4.3 °C in Nagano city, and the park at 850 m runs two to three degrees colder. The gate is 9:00–16:00.
One price in every month of the year, and the park asks visitors to arrive 30 minutes before closing time.
The ticket, in detail湯THE GUIDED DAY, YEAR-ROUND$140 (≈¥21,800)PER PERSON · TICKET INCLUDEDOne price in all twelve months. What changes is what is at the end of it.
Live dates in winterThe 4 months of winter, side by side
BEST ODDS / GOODDecember and March are the edges and they behave like edges: December depends on when the snow settles, March on when it goes. January and February are the same month twice, one colder and one deeper.
What winter is, at this park
December is both: the bath is in use and the mating season is still running. The park puts the most bathing between December and March.
Thermoregulation and lower stress hormones — Takeshita et al., Primates 2018 (Kyoto University). The park records down to −10°C, over 1 m of snow at its own site, which is the condition the behaviour answers.
The park publishes a predicted time for the monkeys coming down from the mountain and asks visitors to check before traveling and again on the day, through its live cameras and social accounts — the only thing that answers «will they be there today», and it is free.
Winter cannot be booked around the crowd
Read before bookingEvery operator arrives in the same three morning hours, because that is when the monkeys come down. Over New Year 2025/26 Nagaden withdrew the Snow Monkey Pass because the park was exceeding capacity, and said single tickets guaranteed nothing either.
THE TROOP DECIDES Park staff work to attract the monkeys during opening hours, but the monkeys may not show up at all on certain days; appearances are particularly sporadic in autumn. Seven of the 21 tours on this site include the ¥800 (≈$5.1) gate fee in the price and the rest leave it at the gate; not one of them includes a monkey.
LIVE DATES · WINTER · FROM NAGANO · TICKET INCLUDED
Winter, month by month
Of the 4 months in winter, January ranks highest on this site’s own order — 1st of twelve. That is a ranking, not a promise.
OR DECEMBER · JANUARY · FEBRUARY · MARCH · ALL TWELVE COMPARED