A tourist looks at Japanese snow monkeys in a hot spring in the Jigokudani valley in northern Nagano Prefecture on Friday. The macaques descend from the forests to the warm waters of the hot springs in the mornings, and return to the security of the forests in the evenings.
© Japan TodayGetting warm
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40 Comments
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naruhodo1
it looks like the monkey is about to slap her grin off.
Graham DeShazo
I was gonna say, " It's all fun and games until somebody's face gets chewed off."
Hide Suzuki
They are living their life, no bills to worry about. Someone pass them some sake and cigar !
DenTok2009
ditto naruhodo 1 & Graham DeShazo!
sau133
A good "picture of the day".
I must promise myself to visit the macaques next time i'm in Japan but I won't be getting that close!
paulinusa
Those monkeys appear pretty happy and content.
Laguna
Right, naruhodo and graham - never put your face close to an animal you don't know unless it already looks like, say, mine. Macaques are vicious little creatures even when given the cutesy name "snow monkey," and if this guy weren't halfway into his cream rinse session, he'd remove her nose with his teeth.
nath
This is a great photo/catch!
But it makes me slightly uneasy, like watching a mousetrap unhinge...
nath
It's a good photo but in the Macaque society, there are a lot of pool side politics. Their society is split, with the right blood line in the group being allowed into the pool while the others are barred from entry. They have to literally wait in the snow all winter.
miyazawa3
Looking at you.. I am still monkey but if I cover my Eyes with Sun glasses and Head with a nit cap, I will be more better looking than you,
GW
stupid stupid stupid, more people especially HERE need to realize where disneyland ends & the real world begins
Only FOOLS make such direct eye contact(look at the macaque its clearly PISSED OFF!) which is usually meant as a challenge, lucky she didnt get her face rearranged!
cleo
I'm pretty sure there are signs around that pool saying 'Do not approach the monkeys'......
If there aren't, there should be.
Virtuoso
A wise monkey doesn't monkey with another monkey's monkey.
my2sense
Ya gotta wonder what he is thinking but some are right. Very dangerous... these guys snap and get very violent in clans... (youtube has a nice set right up there with hockey fights)
SpanishEyez37
That's looks cute,but yet dangerous. I don't if it's the same for these monkeys, but your not supposed to smile or look at apes in the face like that.
How bout' not putting your face close to any animal ...period.
Maria
It is a pretty great picture of a really dumb thing to do just for a photo opp. This whole "Monkey in a hot spring" is always so wonderfully photogenic.
Serrano
"which is which?"
Har!
Elbuda Mexicano
Lucky monkeys!!
calm down
Give me the hat and glasses and no one gets wet.......
Elbuda Mexicano
Some people here do not love monkeys?
redandblack
Wow! And I was under the impression that Japanese are very concerned about saving face! Guess not!
Title should be changed from "Getting warm" to "Bad idea". I hope no one follows this woman's dumb example, and so, I cannot approve of this picture because someone probably will.
kwatt
It seems that monkeys understands humans do nothing to them or they get used to see humans.
Ayler
eye contact is asking for trouble, should be signs to warn the common sense challenged.
Disillusioned
Dunno if I'd be getting so close to one of those unpredictable monsters.
paulinusa
I guess everyone reads something different from the monkey's expression. I don't see any anger.
Nippon Nation
I think the hot spring is so misrepresented with these monkeys. Never understood the fascination.
Laguna
paulinusa, as Ayler said, eye contact from a macaque is in itself generally the final step before a teeth-and-clawed bare lunge of inner-city, not suburb, type. It seems that the macaque is standing, deprived of an advantageous leaping position - and that is probably the only thing that saved this tourist.
lumines
Even the monkeys go to the hot springs but meee!! LOL :P
T_rexmaxytime
@naruhodo1Feb. 11, 2012 - 07:31AM JST
true that... but perhaps the monkey is too laxed from the hot spring bath.
Aliasis
You're not supposed to look at them in the eyes! Five seconds after this pic, monkey bites her face off..
http://danieldiaztecles.blogspot.com/
http://danieldiaztecles.blogspot.com/ Imagine in the bathtub of our house, our privacy, relaxing in warm water, and us to have someone who does not know anything, looking at an inch of our face. There must be a prudent space between apes and people, so that they have their privacy assured.
anglootaku
Come any closer and I will scratch that smile off
gaijinfo
That monkey looks like he's peeing in the pool.
smithinjapan
This woman's lucky on a number of levels, although of course we don't know what occurred after the photo. These monkeys can be quite aggressive, and my guess is that if she did not have those sunglasses on the monkey would have attacked her. She's lucky still it didn't try to nab her hat and/or sunglasses. But who knows, maybe the monkey was nice and sedate thanks to the calming and warm waters. Nice pic of the day, but should also serve as a warning of what NOT to do.
nandakandamanda
If she is going to get that close, she should try showing her teeth too.
Ivan Coughanoffalot
What a very, very stupid thing to do. She's lucky she still has a nose on her face.
rickyvee
i can't wait for the first monkey to attack someone, and then these monkeys won't look so cute in the onsen.
Karen Yap
oh yes this one is too close for comfort even if its use to having visitors. Never under estimate a wild macaque, small as it may look but enormous strength