🇯🇵 Get naked with strangers in Shibu Onsen! | Japan’s Famous Hot Spring Monkeys 🐒

🇯🇵 Get naked with strangers in Shibu Onsen! | Japan’s Famous Hot Spring Monkeys 🐒

We just got into Yamanuki late this afternoon. And as we’re getting settled in and becoming familiar with the town, which is famous for two things. Most famously is those Japanese snow monkeys bathing in hot springs. It’s like just down the road. And the other is something called Shibu onen. as we’re becoming more familiar with the onson scene here and we’re kind of figuring out the rules and the roots and stuff. Um, we’re learning we’re going to spend two days running around this town naked. We don’t know how we feel about that. So, I hope that I hope that Yamanuki Japan’s ready for all this this twisted steel and sex appeal. [Music] [Music] We have just arrived to our Rio Kin. We wanted to show you around. [Music] Oh, welcome. Hello there. Please come in. We have a seating area and beds on the floor cuz in Japan every night’s a [Music] sleepover. We are all tricked out, ready to go. So, Shibu Anen is famous for the hot springs here. Anen is like a Japanese bath, kind of hot springs bath. There’s nine here at Shibu Onen. In order to get access to them, you need to either live here or be staying here. You can’t just come in on a day trip and do them. Each accommodation or riokin will have a key and probably a map to show you where they’re at. And then you you just you go around to all nine in a day. And each is said to have different healing properties, cure different things. Um, but yeah, so you just go and then it’s traditional to wear the the the onen outfit, including shoes. These are so hard to walk in. But I feel super awkward filming myself because guys, the secret is I’m naked under these clothes. And I know what you’re thinking. I’m naked under my clothes every day. But I’m in like a bathrobe. I don’t want to get on a registry. Um Oh my gosh. But yeah. So the first one it’s it’s done in the completely in your birthday suit. It is uh gender segregated though. Yeah. So apparently there are some not here but in other parts of more traditional areas where you get gender join ones like shared ones but that’s not here. There’s men and women’s and then you go and you hot springs. And if it’s private, I guess the typical format is you enjoy a private onen and then when somebody else comes in, if you’ve had a, you know, couple minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes, you give it to the next person, you kind of just like let them enjoy what you just got to enjoy. This one’s open. I don’t know why this I think that means that no one’s in there. Maybe. Maybe. I don’t think so. But we’re going to jump in and then we’ll come back. Obviously, we’re not going to show you what’s in there cuz this is Only Fans. And then we’ll see it then. This one’s empty. So, I’m going to take a quick video. This is what they look like. Very simple, but we might head to the next one. We met some people on the street that told us about the onen towels. That’s the your hotel. You can buy it from your hotel. Ours was a little gift. So, this is what it is. This is what it looks like. And essentially you at each onen there’s stamps that you use to stamp it. And then there’s a temple to get the last stamp. And then it’s like a nice keepsake you can have. [Music] [Music] How are you enjoying your onsen experience here in Shibuansen? Good. Two for two. No strangers. Yeah. I thought they were going to be like jam-packed with tourists cuz it’s quite a touristy area. It’s a very touristy area. But so far, it’s been a little private experience each, but that can’t be expected. And eventually, we’re going to be naked in front of strangers, cuddling up with strangers, naked, squeezing 10 tourists into a little tub. And if you expect that, and then if they’re private, then it’s just kind of like a bonus. Yeah. So far, we’ve been in ones that are like more tiled. And then this last one was wood, which was really nice. That felt very gothic, even though they’re all water. Feel like a little monkey, a little mountain monkey here in the spas. I’m afraid for tomorrow though, you know, when we go onsenting with the monkeys that they’re going to scratch my bits. Oh no. [Music] So, this one here, number nine, was too hot to get into, but there’s a sauna or a steam room type thing. It was That was nice. That was good. How was that? Good. Nice. Mine was too hot to even get into. Oh, yeah. Yeah. You just sunbathed that on the deck or what? I just splashed myself with a mixture of the cold and hot and then went in the sauna. Ollie, there’s a sauna. But I stuck my head in. I was like, “No, they’re dressed again.” They’re back in their regular clothes cuz we’re taking a little break for lunch cuz there’s nine of them. So, we did four and we’re going to go for some sober and then we’re going to get right back to it. Got a full day of relaxing work ahead of us. So, so far we have had all private onsets, right? Uh, nope. Oh, you haven’t? Ah, Tristan’s all negative%. They got to see me. Lucky [Music] them. Walking around the ent. Of course, you’ll be in Japan, so you’ll see vending machines, but this one has glass bottle Cokes, guys. Nothing tastes as good as a glass bottle soda. So, we had a little break after lunch before coming back out to the ones. But now that it’s the afternoon, it’s a lot busier. This one was the first one where other people came in. At first, it was fine. I was like, “Okay, play it cool.” And then another one came in. I was just like, “No, this bath is way too small for the three of us.” [Music] My afternoon has been look I’m like a little lobster. I’m like so hot. The baths this afternoon have been I don’t know had a day to be running a full blast. They are screaming hot. I’m getting cooked like one of those onen eggs. [Music] You see all over Japan people dressing up in kimonos and all kinds of stuff. Walking around in our little outfits is actually like a lot of fun. And it feels so like we’re like in our little wood shoes popping through town. It’s so much fun. I get why people maybe dress up and just like walk around in Japan. At first when I kind of saw it, I thought like, yeah, is that is that cringe? But it’s just fun. Who cares if somebody thinks it’s [Music] cringe? We’ve completed oninning for the day, guys. We’re a couple of cooked spa eggs. Oh my god. Okay, let’s get going. And I have a fun fact and a quiz for Stacy. Following our last spot, the last hockey bit, right? I mentioned how hot it was. Well, now I know. Stacy, how hot do you think that water was? 60°. 60°. A regular hot tub tops out at like 40. The temperature inside of this one is 86.5 Celsius. 86.5 Celsius coming out of the hot water. Oh my god, guys. You just you you can cook in that. You literally can cook in that. So, we’re freaking wiped. We’re exhausted. It’s been really nice, though. It’s really pleasant. Or you can Oh, I was going to say one of them was closed, so we just did eight out of the nine, but I I think that was about We will do it if we see it is opened. I think they’re cleaning it or something like that. But yeah, we did eight of the nine and we can’t do the temple until we do all nine. So, we’re just like totally wiped from that onen day and we’re gonna get ready for dinner, walk around at night, soak in some of that cold air, uh, and have a nice little rest because tomorrow we go see the monkeys in the hot springs. So, that’s really exciting. And I’m exhausted. Right across from our accommodation is dinner. got some ramen, but if you want to see that, you got to watch all the content. Anyways, been a really nice day. Polar ramen. Warm inside, warm outside. Put you right to sleep. Exciting. We’re just watching White Lotus. The season finale. And our phone’s alarmed. It’s not an alarm sound that we’ve heard before. It was kind of shrill and like I don’t know. Maybe we can find the sound and put it here. Um, yeah. I was like, what’s that? Six alarm going off. No, a little earthquake. One good sudden jol and then back to normal. There were some other guests. We obviously we went outside our room and there were some other guests and they had just gotten beers from the proprietor of the Rukin and and they’re like, “Oh, what do we do? What do we do?” like in the future, whatever. And he’s like, “Yeah, it’s finished. It’s okay.” Stacy didn’t like it. Stacy didn’t like it. But like we had the couple little ones in Taiwan where you could only tell because you just felt it a little bit something and then the light fixture would move or in one place we were at there’d be a bike on the wall and it just was like swinging. Um, but that’s where we are, right? We’re in the rim of fire. We’re on the Pacific Pacific Rim of Fire. Uh, it’s earthquake country. So Stacy doesn’t like it. I understand our Rukin owner driving us away. Driving away. He pick us up from the train station and take us to the monkey park. And I think it’s like a part of the Rioin experience. Yeah. They just like look after you. Mhm. Um, that’s where we are. Yeah, we are at the monkey park. I’m really excited. I did a big jump. I did a back flip. Stacey missed it. It’s a little bit of a walk from here, but apparently it’s a really easy walk. Who cares? Oh, you can see the monkeys. Oh, is that live? Yeah, they got a little camera. Well, spoiler alert. They got a little camera so you can see, you know, before you start your walk out. 25 minutes. Oh my gosh. Um Okay. Well, I’m so excited. Yeah. Um it is a little bit warm today, so they might not be like fully soaking in the hot springs. You want to come early? Yeah, that’s why we’re here like right at opening. There’s like pretty much nobody else here. He was also telling me that it’s like baby season, like new babies. So, we might see some babies. Get a little souvenir. Take it home. Oh my [Music] [Music] god. Behind us very loudly is something that’s rare. This is called Shibu Node Chibukani geyser and it’s I guess one of a few geysers that doesn’t erupt on like a periodic basis and it’s right at the base of the monkey park. There’s a monkey and it’s just like a constantly erupting geyser. That might be the first and only geyser I’ve ever seen. Have you ever seen a geyser been there? Yeah, I have. Okay. Well, well, what do Stacey? Anyways, that’s neat. And it’s just like on the way. [Music] [Music] Did you say who’s fat? Little fatty. So cute. I think he’s just fur. Yeah, he’s like a little chunky little guy. He’s not a chunky guy. He’s so cute. Look at his little belly. No, I think that’s his fur. He’s out there. Either way, he’s adorable. The monkeys here are actually semi- wild, so they’re not captive to the monkey park. There’s some kicking right there. Not captive to the monkey park. They actually like live up in the mountains. They just like feed them and they constructed this hot tub for them, this hot springs. Um, so they like leave every day and come back and some days they’re going to be here and some days they’re not going to be here. Uh, but it’s because they feed them here. So the monkeys kind of like it’s an easy meal. It’s neat, but it’s not natural. [Music] [Music] [Music] Glad we showed up when we did. It’s gotten quite a bit busier. We were like the only ones. We were one of like 10 people here when it first opened and this whole area is full of monkeys. Um so like everybody that’s ever given you a tip about travel ever says like, “Oh, go early.” It’s true. It’s always true. Go early and then it’s all yours. [Music] [Music] [Music] Another thing I guess because they are semi- wild is that they’re like very unbothered by people. They just like walk past you on the path, hang out quite close. I mean, don’t get close yourself, but they kind of come close to you quite often. Um, but yeah, they’re very unbothered. Oh, look at those guys. Oh, they’re [Music] adorable. So, because it’s spring, it’s a little bit too warm for the monkeys to actually swim. We saw a couple which is really cool earlier each day, but they just kind of hang out around the edges. Um, also because it’s spring, there’s a lot of really young ones that are so so sweet and so cute. And then a few little babies that are just these like fluffy little nuggets. Oh my gosh, they’re so cute. I want to like grab the baby and stick it in my backpack. They’re so freaking cute. Like they’re so cute. the monkeys in general because they’re the snow monkeys. They have like the longer hick fur, so they’re so fluffy. It’s so cute. Look at them. They’re absolutely adorable. It’s been so much fun just watching them for a few hours. They’re playing, they’re wrestling, they’re grooming, they’re eating. Like, it’s just like it’s being so nice. And it’s really nice just along the river as well. [Music] [Music] We are leaving the snow monkeys now. It was absolutely wonderful. We spent about 3 hours just watching them, which was great. probably slower than most people, but Oh, for sure. I don’t know. We came all the way here for them. So, what are you going to do other than watch them? Yeah. And it would be like wonderful in this when it was snowy and they’re all like huddled together, but this was still like so worth it. They’re so freaking cute. Like, I can’t get over it. Stacy loves her little babies, little nuggets. Fluffy nuggets. It was really, really fun. Really nice. They’re so cute. It’s a beautiful day today. Um, and now we’re going for lunch. Look at this latte you can get. It’s so cute. We got some apple pies for love. Local apples. [Music] [Music] [Music] It’s our last night here in Chebo Onsense. So, we’re back in our onsen getups cuz we’re going to a private onen. Very nice. Um, we also came out, walked around a little bit to finish off our stamp towel. And yeah, it’s very beautiful walking around here at night. I think it’s almost more popular to do the onins at night just cuz it’s very pretty, but I don’t know. We did it in the middle of the day, peak heat of the day. I think people, you go to the monkey park, have a nice time, and then you come back into your hot springs at night. There’s lots of people walking around now. Yeah. [Music] We’re in our private onset. Oh. Oh, so this one’s actually at our Rio Ken. We fibbed a little bit, but we were just out waling around in our clothes for the fun of it. A lot of Ryukans have ones. Yeah. In them. And and ours has like kind of a men’s one and women’s one and then a private one. Yeah. And this one’s like And then this is like outdoor private one. Yeah. So it’s just for the people that are using it and the utility worker if he’s up on the wire. [Music] We are done here at Shibu Ansen with the snow monkeys. It was wonderful. It was such a neat experience. We really, really enjoyed it. Like, it was just such a nice couple days. We’re off to Tokyo, our last destination in Japan and our final destination of 11 months of traveling. That’s crazy.

Things get HOT and STEAMY in Japan…..

👉 (DARE YOU) https://ishortn.ink/wfbb79iDl 🚫DON’T CLICK🚫 (REAL TRAVELLERS™ only) https://ishortn.ink/licY6kdb9

Nestled in the mountains of Nagano Prefecture, Shibu Onsen is one of Japan’s most atmospheric hot spring towns — and we spent three unforgettable days soaking in its magic. We stayed in a traditional ryokan and completed the famous pilgrimage to the 9 Public Baths of Shibu Onsen (Shibu no Kyūto Meguri), each said to offer blessings for health, longevity, and good fortune. Along the way, we wandered through cobbled streets lined with historic inns and enjoyed the peaceful rhythm of life in this centuries-old town.
No trip to Shibu Onsen would be complete without visiting the famous snow monkeys. On our second day, we hiked up through the forest to reach the Jigokudani Monkey Park (Jigokudani Yaen-Koen), where wild Japanese macaques soak in steaming hot springs surrounded by snow. Seeing the monkeys so close in their natural winter environment was an experience we’ll never forget. It’s one of Japan’s most iconic sights — and for good reason.
We also explored the nearby town of Yudanaka Onsen, tried local specialties like onsen manju (hot spring steamed buns), and learned about the deep connection between Shibu Onsen and Zenko-ji Temple in Nagano. Whether you’re planning a peaceful escape, a cultural experience, or a once-in-a-lifetime encounter with Japan’s snow monkeys, Shibu Onsen offers a perfect blend of relaxation and adventure.
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🇯🇵 Getting Naked with Strangers in Japan | Shibu Onsen and Snow Monkeys!
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