HAKODATE, Hokkaido -- The annual "Monkey Mountain Hot Spring" event at ... The spring water is sourced from Yunokawa Onsen ...

One day in 1961, so the story goes, an errant apple fell into the human’s onsen. A young monkey tested the steamy water and emerged with the apple. He didn’t exit the waters immediately ...

where snow monkeys bathe, Hokkaido’s Jigoku-Dani is another flavour altogether. Unlike Japan’s traditionally tranquil onsen, which overlook serene scenes of cherry blossoms or scarlet maples, ...