This lovely picture book shows the true-life story of the nihonzaru-Japanese macaques at the Jigokudani monkey park in Nagano Japan, as they gather in the snow at their very own onsen or hot spring “spa” every winter. Adult and baby macaques come down from the mountains to soak in the hot waters of the natural hot springs. They come to relax in the warm waters, groom one another for parasites and enjoy their time together, despite the occasional argument about the best spots in the onsen! Children will be entranced by both the story and the illustrations as they learn about these unique macaques while listening to a tranquil story that is perfect for bedtime. The beautiful book includes a Japanese glossary, and an author’s note at the end talks about the history of the macaques and how they came to have hot spring pools specifically set aside for their use.

This article appears in Bend Nest Winter 2026.

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Bathtime for Snow Monkeys

by Chandra vanEijnsbergen, Bend Nest
November 11, 2026

<h1>Bathtime for Snow Monkeys</h1> <p class="byline">by Chandra vanEijnsbergen, Bend Nest <br />November 11, 2026</p> <br /> <figure class="wp-block-image alignleft size-large"><img src="https://www.bendsource.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/Bookshelf-Bathtime-for-Snow-Monkeys-989x1024.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-105250" /></figure> <p class="has-drop-cap">This lovely picture book shows the true-life story of the nihonzaru-Japanese macaques at the Jigokudani monkey park in Nagano Japan, as they gather in the snow at their very own onsen or hot spring “spa” every winter. Adult and baby macaques come down from the mountains to soak in the hot waters of the natural hot springs. They come to relax in the warm waters, groom one another for parasites and enjoy their time together, despite the occasional argument about the best spots in the onsen! Children will be entranced by both the story and the illustrations as they learn about these unique macaques while listening to a tranquil story that is perfect for bedtime. The beautiful book includes a Japanese glossary, and an author’s note at the end talks about the history of the macaques and how they came to have hot spring pools specifically set aside for their use.</p> <p>This <a target="_blank" href="https://www.bendsource.com/bend-nest-content/nestbookshelf/bathtime-for-snow-monkeys/">article</a> first appeared on <a target="_blank" href="https://www.bendsource.com">Bend Nest</a> and is republished here under a <a target="_blank" href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License</a>.&nbsp;<img src="https://i0.wp.com/www.bendsource.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/cropped-Untitled-design-4.png?resize=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1" alt="" width="16" height="16" style="width:1em;height:1em;"></p> <img id="republication-tracker-tool-source" src="https://www.bendsource.com/?republication-pixel=true&post=105249" style="width:1px;height:1px;"><script> PARSELY = { autotrack: false, onload: function() { PARSELY.beacon.trackPageView({ url: "https://www.bendsource.com/bend-nest-content/nestbookshelf/bathtime-for-snow-monkeys/", urlref: window.location.href }); } } </script> <script id="parsely-cfg" src="//cdn.parsely.com/keys/bendsource.com/p.js"></script>

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