A hot spring has been available at a botanical garden in the hot spring resort area of Hakodate since January 1, and visitors are enjoying the sight of the monkeys warming themselves in the snowy hot water.
About 50 Japanese macaques are kept at the Hakodate Tropical Botanical Garden in Yugawa-cho, Hakodate City, and every year in December, a nearby hot spring is pumped up to provide hot spring water.
On a single day in the city, the temperature of the hot water is adjusted to about 41 degrees Celsius, which is comfortable for the monkeys to enter during the morning when it is snowing.
The monkeys were soaking up to their shoulders with their eyes closed and grooming themselves in the steamy hot spring water.
A woman in her 80s visiting from Tokyo said, “This is the first time I have seen monkeys in a hot spring, and they look just as comfortable as humans.
Ichiro Suzuki, director of the Hakodate Tropical Botanical Garden, said, “I would like you to see this as a winter tradition. I hope that seeing the monkeys bathing in the hot springs will soothe your heart and make you feel warm with them.
【Hakodate Tropical Botanical Garden, Hakodate city, Hokkaido】
