1-Day Tour From Hakuba & Nagano: Nozawa Fire Festival & Snow Monkeys

PLEASE NOTE: THIS TOUR WILL NOT BE AVAILABLE FOR THE 2025 NOZAWA ONSEN FIRE FESTIVAL DUE TO THE FESTIVAL BEING CLOSED COMPLETELY TO THOSE OUTSIDE OF NOZAWA ONSEN – If you are looking for some snow monkey fun and Japanese culture this winter, our 1-Day Tour: Snow Monkeys, Zenko-ji Temple & Sake in Nagano is operating daily this upcoming winter season. For more information on other tours we offer around Nagano and the rest of Japan, please see our Tour Listings here. We apologize for the inconvenience

In the midst Nagano’s cold white winter, there is one festival that is sure to set things alight and burn bright into the night! The Nozawa Onsen ‘Dosojin Matsuri’ is one of Japan’s three great fire festivals, taking place every January in the popular ski resort village. This tour takes to you to and from Nozawa Onsen to enjoy one of the Nagano’s most popular festivals in combination with an earlier visit to the world-famous Jigokudani Snow Monkey Park and early dinner to energize for the festivities to come! Including alternate pick-up points in Hakuba and Nagano City, this tour will long in the memory, long after the fire has burnt away!

Highlights

• Witness the festivities (and craziness) of one of Japan’s most famous fire festivals – the Nozawa Onsen ‘Dosojin Matsuri’ – and enjoy exploring the popular and lively ski resort village at night
• Visit the world-famous Jigokudani Snow Monkey Park and meet the only monkeys in the world known to bathe in hot springs
• Enjoy an early dinner at a local restaurant nearby the park and get set for the festival
• With alternative pick-up and drop-off points in Hakuba and Nagano

Want to join this tour from Tokyo? It’s easy to do! Scroll to the bottom for our FAQs including train services that can you use to join the tour!

Want to join this tour from Hakuba? No problem at all! Lot’s of guests do just that – see below for details.

Description

The tour begins with pick-up at three points in Hakuba between 11:30 and 11:55 followed by Nagano Station at 13:00. Your guide will greet you and quickly have you board the tour bus to begin your journey toward the Jigokudani Monkey Park. Arriving nearby the park at approximately 14:15, your guide will lead you along the snow-covered forest trail (1.6km/1 mile) and introduce you to the only troop of monkeys in the world knowns to bathe in ‘onsen’ (natural hot springs). With no barriers between you and the monkeys, you can observe them in close proximity as they go about their lives in the deep snow and cold of winter; which of course in winter involves a lot of soaking in the hot spring!

Your  visit to the park is followed by an early dinner – your choice of beef, chicken or vegetarian hotpot along with starters and a dessert*. While there, your guide will explain about the festival – its meaning, history, and some helpful tips – to make sure you get the most out of your time in Nozawa Onsen.

Boarding the tour bus it’s time to make the journey to Nozawa to witness one of Japan’s three great fire festivals! Arriving at approximately 18:20, your guide will help you get your bearings by setting a meet-up place and time, and then walking all tours guests to the festival grounds to show where the main festivities will take place, pointing-out the best places to watch from. From that point, the evening is yours to explore the lively village!

As one of Nagano’s most popular ski resorts, Nozawa is always lively with several public hot springs (and we mean, hot!) and foot baths to use for free. The atmosphere in the town is cheerful, with most villagers having imbibed their fair share of ‘sake’ to purify themselves in readiness for the festival! Preparations start at 19:00, with singing, drumming, fireworks and more. Then it’s time for the main event! The town converges on a wooden shrine, defended by men the ages of 25 and 42, said to be in unlucky years and therefore the charged with the shrines defence from the other villagers, who storm the structure with flaming bales of hay intent on its destruction.

Fueled by tradition, bravado, and booze, the battle takes place with embers falling over the crowd and very little distinguishing onlookers from participants.

After finally, after the gods have been deemed happy and ready to bless the villagers with good luck, harvest, and happiness in the year to come, the shrine is set alight. With festivities winding-down around 20:15, you meet-up with your guide and board the tour bus at depart Nozawa at 22:45. Feel free to fall asleep as we transport you back to your preferred drop-off point of Nagano Station at 23:45 or Hakuba Happo Bus Terminal between 01:00 and 01:15*, where the tour concludes.

*Please note, due to the ongoing impact of COVID-19, we cannot yet confirm which restaurant we will use or the exact meal that will be served. Once those details have been confirmed, we will update this page accordingly.

MEETUP POINTS

This tour operates to and from Hakuba and Nagano and include the following pick-up and drop-off points:

1  / HAKUBA TOKYU HOTEL, WADANO @ 11:30

Please wait at the entrance of the hotel lobby. This is a group tour with multiple pickup points to follow. The tour guide will not have time to wait for you or have reception call your room. Please ensure you are at the hotel entrance prior to the meeting time and look for the guide wearing a SNOW MONKEY RESORTS tour tag. The tour cannot wait and will need to depart by 11:35.

2  /  HAKUBA HAPPO BUS TERMINAL @ 11:45

Please wait inside the bus terminal and sure to look for the guide wearing a SNOW MONKEY RESORTS tour tag. Please be waiting before the meetup time as the tour will depart by 11:50.

time. The tour cannot wait and will need to depart by 12:00.

3  /  NAGANO STATION @ 13:00

The meetup point is inside the station, in front of the Information Board directly across from the Shinkansen ticket gates. Be sure to look for the guide wearing a SNOW MONKEY RESORTS tour tag. Please ensure you are there prior to the meetup time as the tour will need to depart by 13:05.

*Arrival times are our best estimate but can be affected by road conditions and crowd numbers at the festival during winter. We ask that all guests cooperate with their guide in coming to the meetup points on time, to avoid unnecessary delays and inconvenience to other guests. For guests who joined the tour in Hakuba, after drop-off at Nagano Station around 11:45 the bus will return you to your select drop-off point in Hakuba where your day is scheduled to conclude around 01:00. Due to weather and road conditions in winter, we cannot guarantee the end time of tours.

NOTES

Included

• Transportation fee from and back to Hakuba and Nagano Station to the Snow Monkey Park and between activities / attractions
• Snow Monkey Park entrance fee
• Early dinner (vegetarian options are available)
• English-speaking guide

Excluded

• Other food, snacks & drinks
• Accommodation
• Shinkansen / ‘Bullet Train’ tickets

Other Information

• This tour includes a significant amount of walking and most areas including the forest trail leading to the monkey park, the park itself and streets of Nozawa Onsen are likely to be affected by snow and ice. Walking around Nozawa during the festival can be especially slippery so please ensure you wear good quality shoes or boots. If you have snowboots and / or crampons, we recommend you bring them.
• It will be cold in January in Nagano with likely snowfall and temperatures of 0°C and below. The cold is especially apparent at night so please wear warm clothes and shoes fit for winter. Please also note that burning cinders may be floating in the air during the festival and clothes can be damaged.
• This tour is not wheelchair accessible and may not be suitable for mobility-impaired travellers. Should you have any concerns about your ability to join the tour, please contact us to discuss prior to booking
• This is a popular and crowded festival. It will not be possible for your guide to be with you at all times and there is no reserved seating/observation area. Please ensure that you watch the festivities from a safe distance/location and follow the festival rules, as instructed by your guide.
• This is a family-friendly cultural tour, not a drinking tour. Consumption of alcohol is not allowed on the tour bus and we request that guests do not become intoxicated at the festival. Guests who are intoxicated can be refused carriage on the tour bus.
• This tour includes an early dinner at a restaurant nearby the monkey park. Due to the ongoing impact of COVID-19, we might be unable to confirm the exact restaurant and meal until soon before the tour.
• For those joining the tour from Nagano Station, arrival back to Nagano Station will be around midnight so our recommendation is to stay overnight at Nagano City. Shinkansen / Bullet Train services will have ended by the time the tour returns to the station.
• Drop-off in Hakuba will be at the three designated meetup points between 01:00 and 01:15 in the morning. We are unable to drop guests directly at their accommodation (other than guests staying at Tokyu Hotel, Wadano – one of the three designated meetup point).
• The tour application deadline is 2 days before the tour date at 17:00.