MAY AT JIGOKUDANI · BABIES · 6TH OF TWELVE

The peak of the births

May is the one month with a reason to come that has nothing to do with the pool. The bath is largely out of use; there are infants everywhere.

16.4 °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 13.4 to 14.4 °C. No snow falls in an average May in the city.

Two Japanese macaques face to face in the steaming pool, the younger one grooming the older

¥THE GATE IN MAY8:30–17:00ADULT ¥800 (≈$5.1) · CHILD ¥400 (≈$2.6) · OPEN EVERY DAY

The April–October timetable. Peak births · Golden Week 29 Apr–5 May.

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 May

What the calendar does to May

BABIES

Everything on this list is published by the park or by Nagaden and changes on a date. Peak births · Golden Week 29 Apr–5 May.

MAY · WHAT IS PUBLISHEDCHECKED 2026-09-06

The park’s hoursAPRIL–OCTOBER TIMETABLE · OPEN EVERY DAY

8:30–17:00

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

7 a day, reportedly

The Snow Monkey Pass, summer versionSOLD FROM THE MACHINES ONLY, VALID THE DAY YOU BUY IT · CHILD ¥2,400 (≈$15)

¥4,800 (≈$31)

The Jigokudani car park

¥500 (≈$3.2)

Boots, crampons and jackets at the trailhead shop

October–May, reportedly

Nagaden's own free pass is on sale

¥2,820 (≈$18) for one day

What the monkeys are doing in May

May is the peak. Infants are the month’s whole case, and they are the one thing at this park that does not depend on the weather. The peak of the birth season. Infants are the reason to come this month; the pool is not.

Births run April–June, peak May, and May is the peak of it.

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 show you a bathing monkey in May

Read before booking

The pool is largely out of use. What is on sale in May is the valley and the infants, and every operator sells them at the winter price.

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 · MAY · FROM NAGANO · TICKET INCLUDED

May, priced and dated

8:30–17:00 at the gate, 7 a day, reportedly on the express bus, and peak births · Golden Week 29 Apr–5 May. 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 APRIL INSTEAD · JUNE INSTEAD · SPRING AS A WHOLE · ALL TWELVE COMPARED