Winter in Japan: First Time to Experience Winter, Snow & Onsen

February 2017 in Nagano, Japan

First of many: first time to experience snow, first time to try an onsen, first time to see snow monkeys

I went on a solo trip to Japan in 2017. I originally booked a trip to Tokyo and I wanted to see more of Japan so I bought a JR pass to be able to see the countryside of Japan.

I decided to visit Nagano as my first stop. It was my first time to experience winter and snow so I was excited. Nagano was one of the provinces near Tokyo where I could actually experience snow so I picked this place.

I read that some of the attractions in Nagano are the outdoor onsens and the snow monkeys so those were the ones I chose to do on my trip.

I visited a temple as soon as I arrived in Nagano. I checked in to my hostel and had dinner before heading towards an onsen. It was a 30 minute walk to the onsen. It was quite scary because I was walking alone at night and there were less light, people, and cars around but knowing that it‘s relatively safe in Japan, I just kept on walking.

I didn‘t know what to do as soon as I got inside but I guess the old Japanese lady sensed it so she came to me and gestured what I needed to do explaining it in Japanese but using body language so I could understand.

After that, I was on my own. You‘re not allowed to bring your phone inside the onsen but I wanted to take a short video of how it looks like so I quickly sneaked in my phone and took a short clip since I was alone in the onsen during that time.

I woke up early the next day and did a short hike to see the snow monkeys or Japanese macaques.