Arashiyama Monkey Park in Kyoto: Highlights and Personal Photos with Insights into Interacting with Wild Monkeys

2024-08-212024-09-03

Arashiyama Monkey Park is a park where over 120 Japanese macaques live in the wild and you can interact with them. Japanese macaques, which live in snowy areas, are extremely rare among primates in the world, and are a popular spot for tourists from Europe and America.

This article will share the highlights of Arashiyama Monkey Park, along with some personal photographs.

Getting to Arashiyama Monkey Park from Kyoto Station

The most convenient way to reach Arashiyama Monkey Park from Kyoto Station is by train.

STEP

Board the JR Sagano(San-in) Line at Kyoto Station.

The JR Sagano(San-in) Line is located on platform 32 or 33. It can be accessed from either platform 32 or 33.

STEP

Disembark at JR Saga-Arashiyama Station.

It takes about 20 minutes to get here from Kyoto Station.

STEP

From the station, walk about 1.1km, which takes about 16 minutes.

After exitting the ticket gate, turn left and exit the station from the south gate.

On the way to Arashiyama Monkey Park, I crossed the Togetsukyo Bridge. The beautiful scenery of the river flowing with the mountains in the background was truly breathtaking.

The photo above is the entrance.

This is the ticket office, where monkey goods such as stuffed animals and key chains are also sold.

Highlights of Arashiyama Monkey Park

It takes about 15-20 minutes from the ticket office to the top of the mountain where the monkeys are. I recommend wearing comfortable walking shoes.

The first step after exiting the ticket office is a staircase, but after that a gentle walking trail surrounded by nature continues. There are also some benches along the way.

There are quizzes about monkeys along the way, so you can have fun learning about them.

There is also an air-conditioned room near the summit.

At the top of the mountain, cute monkeys lives in the wild and welcomed me. Most of the world’s primates live in tropical to temperate regions, but the reason Japanese macaques are able to live in Japan is because of their unique coat. The outer hair is long and coarse, while the inner hair is short and densely grown. Thanks to this fur, it is difficult for body heat to escape and it is said to be resistant to cold.

The summit is 160 meters above sea level and serves as an observatory, offering a panoramic view of Kyoto city.

At 10:30 am, 12:30 pm, and 2:30 pm, monkeys from all over the park gather together with the zookeepers during feeding times. If you visit the mountaintop at this time, you can see many monkeys.

By the way, the monkeys that gather here are wild, but they never come down from the mountain to the city because there is always food available. It seems that monkeys have a habit of settling where there is food and moving when the food runs out.

In the photo above, one monkey still remains and continues to eat even after feeding time is over.

The temperature was high that day, so there were some monkeys swimming gracefully in the pond.

It was so cute to see two little baby monkeys swimming like they were racing.

At the rest area at the top of the mountain, you can feed the monkeys from inside the rest area. Monkey food like apples and peanuts is sold.

It’s the opposite of a zoo, where we humans are inside the fence and the monkeys are outside. I was able to clearly see the monkey’s expression and fur. It’s cute even up close.