Takasakiyama, the monkey mountain

photo by funk bass · CC BY 3.0

photo by Kamakura · CC BY-SA 3.0

760 wild, free-ranging Japanese macaques in two troops: B (514 animals) and C (246).

At the foot of Mount Takasaki (628 m), between Ōita and Beppu, lives a colony of wild Japanese macaques that you can watch up close with no cages or enclosures: the animals remain free to roam the mountain and come down to the observation area (寄せ場) to feed. In December 2025 the park's official census counted 760 monkeys in two distinct troops, group B with 514 animals and group C with 246. From the entrance you walk up in 4–5 minutes or take a paid monorail (さるっこレール).

高崎山自然動物園 studies and shows the public a population of wild Japanese macaques that has lived free on Mount Takasaki, between the municipalities of Ōita and Beppu, since the municipality began feeding them at a fixed spot in the fifties to keep them away from the farmland. The animals remain undomesticated and in the wild: the park is limited to an observation area where the troops come down to eat, while the staff follow their social structure and publish it in regular updates.

ℹ️ Open 9:00–17:00, last entry 16:30. Tickets: adults 500 yen, high school students 250 yen, free for children below elementary school age and for Ōita residents of school age; groups of 20 or more, adults 400 yen. The さるっこレール monorail is extra, 160 yen adults / 80 yen high school students per journey.

🚉 Higashi-Beppu · 33 min walk

Sources: takasakiyama.jp · ehime-odekakejyouhou.com

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