Day 14: The long trip to Yamanouchi (山ノ内)
We woke up bright and early in Hiroshima, bags packed and ready for our long journey to Yamanouchi (山ノ内). We were not looking forward to train-hopping all day, especially after having such a blast in Hiroshima, but we were excited about our adventure in the snow.
We hopped on the tram from our hotel to Hiroshima station, then took a train to Shin-Kobe, and another from Shin-Kobe to Nagoya (名古屋).
Nagoya Station was a bit of a whirlwind. We were hungry and decided to grab some Maccas, but the station was confusing so it was tricky to find. We must have looked like lost gaijin (foreigners) because a kind man approached us and led us there. He didn’t speak much English, and our Japanese is pretty basic, but we managed to communicate and make some small talk. We weren’t sure why this stranger was helping us, but it became clear when we arrived near the restaurant. He opened his bag, revealing a McDonald’s employee uniform, and proudly said ‘manager’. We replied with a hearty ‘sugoi!’ (すごい, ‘amazing’ in English) and thanked him for his help. He left the restaurant shortly after, which means he went far out of his way to help us. What a legend!
After our Maccas adventure, we hopped on another train to Nagano (長野). We had a bit of a funny moment when an older lady sitting next to us decided to move seats after we started chatting. We also had a bit of a panic when we couldn’t find our train, but a kind local helped us out.
Finally, we arrived in Nagano, a modern station that hosted the Winter Olympics in 1998 (not that you would ever guess from the Olympics-themed paraphernalia that was absolutely everywhere). We found the Yudanaka line, which was hidden away in a dodgy area underneath the station. It was a tiny train, mostly filled with foreigners like us, heading to the Snow Monkey Park and the ski slopes.
After such a massive day of travel, we finally arrived in Yudanaka at around 5:30 p.m. (we left Hiroshima at 6:00 am!). It was dark and snowy, so the roads were difficult to navigate as they were covered in ice and hard to see. We had to walk uphill to our hotel, which was a bit of a struggle with our suitcases.
After struggling up the hill, we finally made it to our accommodation, Shimaya. It was a small ryokan complete with tatami flooring, futons, and an onsen. The owner was an interesting man who spoke limited English, but was keen to help us however he could. After checking us in, he offered to help us with our bags up the stairs. We politely declined (he was pretty old after all), but this turned out to be a mistake. We were on the fourth floor and there was no elevator, and after the day we had, it was a slog.
Eventually, we made it to our room and were greeted by a spacious, traditional space. The room came with yukatas and tea, which we were keen to try. The bathroom left a bit to be desired, but it was clean and functional, so it had that going for it at least.
After settling in, we were itching to explore the town and eat a proper meal. We had a bit of a scare when Sophie slipped on an icy mat leaving the ryokan. She was okay, but it was quite scary considering how close she came to hitting her head on the tiled step. With a new appreciation for the dangers of icy streets (and our fragile mortality), we headed out to find some dinner, and found a lovely place called Hakko. We enjoyed a mushroom and green onion pizza, butterfries (potato wedges drowned in butter), mackerel, and gyoza.
We were in a restaurant, enjoying our meal, when we overheard a conversation between an Australian man, a Canadian woman, a Canadian man, and a European woman (all of whom were middle-aged). The Canadian man dominated the conversation, his loud voice filling the restaurant. As they left, he kept loudly repeating ‘number one, number one’ to the poor waiter. Seeing how they acted made us feel like we were doing a good job of being respectful in Japan.
After paying for dinner and dropping some ‘gochisousamadeshita’s (ご馳走様でした, thank you for the meal), we headed to Lawson, picked up some beer, and returned to our hotel. On our way back, we saw a sign for a restaurant called Mikasa. It’s a bit of an inside joke, but basically there is a creator on TikTok, itslorlo, who plays a cringey male character that is obsessed with his fake Japanese girlfriend, Mikasa. It was such a funny coincidence and we were beside ourselves.
Back at the hotel, we tried on our yukatas and enjoyed some tea. It was a lovely experience, and we felt like we were truly immersing ourselves in the culture.
Day 15: Exploring Yudanaka
We woke up the next morning, unsure of our plans for the day, but decided to play it by ear. At least we woke up to a gorgeous view!
We got a wake-up call from a rotary phone in our room from the owner of the ryokan, who we’ve been calling Yudanaka Joe (in honour of Ōsaka Joe). He asked if we were going to the monkey park. We told him we were planning on going skiing instead, and he offered to drive us to the bus station where we could catch the free shuttle to the ski slope. The drive was a bit chaotic, with Sophie’s seatbelt getting stuck in the door and Yudanaka Joe driving like a maniac on the icy roads, but we made it to bus station in one piece.
We arrived at the bus station barely in time, thanks to Yudanaka Joe’s maniacal driving. We squeezed ourselves onto the bus with a bunch of ski bums and enjoyed the incredible scenery on the ride up the mountain. It was a bit scary as the bus barely fit on the icy, slim road.
After a short ride, we made it to the Shiga Kogen Ski Resort (志賀高原). Our plan was to rent equipment, book a lift pass and take skiing lessons. Tristan had emailed a ski coach about free lessons on the mountain as neither of us had skied before. When we arrived it was all quite confusing, and we hadn’t properly planned this out, so it was extra hard to work this out on the fly. After speaking to a few staff members, we decided that we had probably bit off more than we could chew, and called time on our plans to ski.
It was a bit disappointing, mainly because we had come all the way to Yudanaka to ski. However, we pivoted and reframed this part of the trip as our first experience in a snowy town. We chose this area because it’s also home to the snow monkeys, and since we had a new hole in our calendar, we decided to go there instead. Before heading off, we took some time to enjoy the beautiful views and take some photos.
After about an hour of exploring, it was time to take the bus back down. At the Yudanaka bus station to the monkey park, we overheard a man arguing with the station attendant about the need for the bus company to accept card payments. We overheard something about him nearly being stranded in the mountains because he didn’t have cash, but the whole thing seemed too bizarre to not be an overreaction. It was weird because you don’t often see Japanese people show emotion, let alone such a big angry outburst. Eventually we snapped out of our eavesdropping and got our bus tickets to the monkey park. The bus station is right in the middle of town, which was covered in snow. It became even more beautiful when the sun starting peeking through the clouds.
Once the bus arrived, we noticed people onboarding would take a paper ticket out of a dispenser on the bus, near the door. We had prepaid tickets, so we weren’t sure if we meant to take tickets too, but we decided to take a paper ticket each just in case. We ended up with four tickets and a lot of confusion. Why were some people not taking tickets? Were we even on the right bus?
After we arrived, we learned that if you had a prepaid ticket, you didn’t need to worry about the paper tickets from the machine inside the bus – you just needed to ensure that you were on the right bus. If you get a paper ticket, you pay in cash on the bus as you leave. The price depends on how far you go on the bus.
We had a bit of a hold-up when a group of American tourists in front of us had to pay with cash. They seemed a bit confused about the process, and we all had to wait for them to figure it out. It was relieving to watch foreigners that weren’t us making mistakes as it made us feel less alone, so we didn’t mind the holdup. The views at the drop-off point were beautiful!
After we got off the bus, we realised that we had to hike 2.7 km to get to the monkey park. It was a bit challenging because there was ice all over the road, but we took our time and made it there in our own time. We stopped at a café along the way and enjoyed some delicious food. Tristan reckoned that their chicken was even better than KFC! After refuelling, we continued our hike and made our way to the snow monkey entrance. The last kilometre or so was flat and surrounded by snowy trees, which made us feel like we were in a winter wonderland.
One very strange thing we saw on the walk up to the monkey park was a fully nude man bathing in an outdoor hot spring which belonged to the Korakukan Ryokan, which was nestled in the valley of mountains along the way. The monkeys had full access to the water, so it was probably filled with god knows what – we were concerned about the hygiene of the water, but also kind of impressed by this absolute chad.
After walking for an hour and a half (ish), we finally made it to the entrance to the Jigokudani Monkey Park (地獄谷野猿公苑). We purchased our tickets for ¥800 each and made our way through the park. The monkeys mainly stick to the hot spring and river areas, so we had to walk through some snowy sections to see them.
Seeing the monkeys made all the confusion and challenges of the day worth it. They were everywhere – foraging in the snow, climbing on the netting on the side of the mountains, and of course, bathing in the hot springs. We were able to get some great photos and videos of these adorable creatures, and were a bit envious of the natural hot tub they had to themselves.
The place was absolutely packed with tourists and photographers. The monkeys didn’t give a single shit about anybody – they would just run around looking for bugs to eat. Some preferred to just sit in the hot springs, while others would spend more time foraging in the snow.
After spending about an hour so with the monkeys, we decided it was time to head back. The hike back through the forested area was beautiful in the afternoon sun.
There was one section that was about 5 metres of decline – some people navigated it with ease (probably snowboarders), while others clung onto the railing for dear life (like us, hehe). There was a sign warning people to take extra care down the slope, but some people still went tits up.
We stopped at the same café on the way down for some ramen and apple pie. The attention to detail was immaculate!
After our late lunch, we walked a little further and caught the bus back to our accommodation. This time we had to pay with coins, but we had figured out the system by then. After we returned to our hotel, we enjoyed some downtime on our balcony (a rarity in Japan) wearing our yukatas and drinking tea while watching the sunset.
Dinner time was suddenly upon us, and we were a little flustered as there weren’t many plant-based options in Yudanaka. However, we had spotted a restaurant earlier that day, Izakaya Kushidoraku, and decided to give it a try. The menu outside looked promising, with vegetable tempura being the main menu item that caught Soph’s eye.
We were unsure about the shoe etiquette, as Japanese restaurants often require patrons to take their shoes off before coming inside. Tristan bravely asked some locals, who were smoking outside the restaurant, if shoes were okay (Kutsu wa daijōbudesuka, 靴は大丈夫ですか), and they assured us they were. But as soon as we stepped in, we saw everyone’s shoes were off! We quickly asked the owner, who kindly reassured us that shoes were fine in the wooden floorboard area. Phew!
Ready to get stuck in to the extensive menu, we claimed the bench at the bar. Just as we sat down, the owner gestured for one of us to move to the other bench. We were a bit confused, but we complied. We ended up sitting the same distance apart, just on separate benches. It felt a bit odd, but the owner probably just wanted to make sure we were comfortable given we take up a bit more space than the average Japanese person.
We ordered a variety of potato and chicken dishes, excited to try authentic Japanese cuisine. The food was absolutely delicious, and we washed it down with a couple of drinks. The restaurant was mostly empty except for a lively group of locals, their laughter and chatter adding to the warm atmosphere. We didn’t understand a word, but we loved seeing such an animated group of Japanese people (who are usually very reserved).
After a hearty meal, we made our way back to our accommodation, navigating the icy roads. When we got back to our accommodation, we were greeted by the owner, who asked about our checkout time. We weren’t sure yet, so we decided to call it a night and figure it out in the morning. We each had a long shower – it had been such a big day and the warm water was very relaxing.
We loved seeing the snow monkeys and experiencing a snowy Japanese town, but we wouldn’t recommend staying overnight in Yamanouchi unless you’re an experienced skier or have someone in your group that knows what they’re doing. In hindsight, we would’ve taken an extra day in Hiroshima instead and just visited the snow monkeys on a day trip. If you’re planning a similar trip, we would recommend staying in Nagano instead and visiting the monkeys on a day trip. You could even do a day trip from Tōkyō, but it would be a long day.
