Nagano Part 2: Snow Monkeys and a Curry House

After a fun-filled day of snowboarding on Saturday, we added some variety to our weekend trip to Nagano by participating in the group's excursion to see the snow monkeys. Seeing as how the monkeys are also a commonly recommended outing by the MWR office on the base (Moral Welfare and Recreation), we knew these creatures were not to be missed.

What exactly is a snow monkey? We soon learned that these animals are Japanese Macaque, native to northern Japan and the most northern-living non-human primate. Our side trip began with a 30-minute bus ride, after which we hiked about 1.6km to reach the monkeys. The walk in and of itself was worth the visit, as it was along a peaceful trail through snow and an impressive forest of tall, straight, thin trees.  We soon reached the animals' wild habitat and saw countless monkeys digging in the snow on the hillside, walking around and lounging in the area's natural hot springs. The monkeys were clearly comfortable with humans since they receive visits from people toting enormous camera lenses daily, but were not aggressive enough to approach us for food or attention.

Walking to See the Monkeys

Baby, Along for the Ride

Furry and Focused - Ready to Take on the Snow (Jennifer is going to take this stance now every time she goes outside to brave the cold.)

Even Monkeys Know the Value of a Dip in the Hot Springs

(We're the Ones in Front)

Do you think he noticed the one sitting right in front of him?

After returning to the hotel area we had a few hours to grab lunch and meet back to board the bus at 3:45pm. The two of us decided to expand our horizons and jump on the free shuttle to another of the many surrounding ski resorts. We were able to eat lunch at another ski slope area that had signs marking its use in the 1998 Olympic Games. Complete with a ski-over bridge crossing the street, it seemed an excellent place to host such a competition.

Olympics!

The group boarded the buses as instructed for our return drive to Shinjuku Station in Tokyo, however the trip itself did not go exactly as planned. Evidently the leftover highway snow from last weekend's snow storm reeked havoc on the traffic situation, which added an additional 3 hours to what should have been our 6-hour ride home. Had traffic been as expected, we would have made it to Shinjuku around 10pm or 11pm and with enough time to catch the last train back to Ebina. Needless to say, things became complicated when we rolled into Shinjuku at 1:30am. We were left with only a few reasonable options for catching the first train in the morning at 5am. Fortunately while wandering toward a 24-hour McDonald's (which ended up only being open for take out), we noticed a few curry restaurants that were open all night and already being visited by other people who were also delayed by the snow or had stayed out in the city for too long that night, thus also missing the train. And so we found ourselves, snowboards and all, camped out in a small curry house in the wee hours of the morning. Oddly enough, a group from the Bronx wandered in and we had fun chatting with them and comparing their cross streets with those of John's family and his childhood home. After a few hours of ordering and eating as slowly as possible, we headed to the train station and successfully caught the 5am train home.

Shinjuku, Tokyo, 1:45am



Our Favorite Curry Restaurant on the Left



Good morning!

Poor John was able to sleep for the hour long train ride, but had to go to work immediately when we arrived.  At least we made it home unscathed despite the unexpected delays.

Better than at his desk.

All-in-all we loved our trip to Nagano, curry and all.