DECEMBER AT JIGOKUDANI · BEST ODDS · 3RD OF TWELVE

Snow settles, and everything turns on the date

December is two months in one: mating season ending, snow settling from mid-month, the express bus going to winter frequency on the 6th, and the pass withdrawn over New Year the last time the park was full.

2.3 °C is the 1991–2020 mean for Nagano city at 418 m. The park is at 850 m and runs two to three degrees colder, so read it as about −0.7 to 0.3 °C. 30 cm of snow falls in an average December in the city.

A young Japanese macaque walking through deep fresh snow towards the camera, snow settled on its head

¥THE GATE IN DECEMBER9:00–16:00ADULT ¥800 (≈$5.1) · CHILD ¥400 (≈$2.6) · OPEN EVERY DAY

The November–March timetable. Mating season ends · snow settles from mid-month.

The ticket, in detail 湯THE GUIDED DAY, YEAR-ROUND$140 (≈¥21,800)PER PERSON · TICKET INCLUDED

One price in all twelve months. What changes is what is at the end of it.

Live dates in December

What the calendar does to December

BEST ODDS

Everything on this list is published by the park or by Nagaden and changes on a date. Mating season ends · snow settles from mid-month.

DECEMBER · WHAT IS PUBLISHEDCHECKED 2026-09-06

The park’s hoursNOVEMBER–MARCH TIMETABLE · OPEN EVERY DAY

9:00–16:00

The express bus from Nagano StationJR NAGANO STATION EAST EXIT, BAY 23 · NO RESERVATIONS

7 a day until 6 December, then up to 13, reportedly

The Snow Monkey Pass, winter version2026/27 PRICES WERE NOT ANNOUNCED WHEN THIS PAGE WAS CHECKED, SO THESE ARE THE 2025/26 ONES

¥5,100 (≈$33) train / ¥6,800 (≈$44) bus

The Jigokudani car park is closed

1 December – 31 March

Boots, crampons and jackets at the trailhead shop

October–May, reportedly

The pass was withdrawn from sale over New Year 2025/26

30 December – 4 January

What the monkeys are doing in December

December is the handover: the mating season ends, the snow settles from mid-month, and the bath goes back into daily use. 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 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 — which is the only thing that answers «will they be there today», and it is free.

A tour cannot get you in when the park is full

Read before booking

Over New Year 2025/26 Nagaden withdrew the pass because the park was exceeding capacity, and said single tickets guaranteed nothing either.

NOTHING ON SALE CHANGES THIS 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 · DECEMBER · FROM NAGANO · TICKET INCLUDED

December, priced and dated

9:00–16:00 at the gate, 7 a day until 6 December, then up to 13, reportedly on the express bus, and mating season ends · snow settles from mid-month. Everything else about the day is the same in every month, and is priced on the pages below.

See dates · $140 (≈¥21,800) · ticket included

OR NOVEMBER INSTEAD · JANUARY INSTEAD · WINTER AS A WHOLE · ALL TWELVE COMPARED