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Nasu Animal Kingdom to offer an unprecedentedly cutest hot spring experience!

We know that Japan loves to watch these giant rodents relax in a hot bath. Well, starting next month, you’ll be able to see the critters enjoying their bath while soaking in a hot spring yourself! Yes, Nasu Animal Kingdom in Tochigi Prefecture, about a two and a half hour drive from Tokyo, will be opening its “Kingdom Hot Spring — The Capybara Bath (Ōkoku Onsen Capybara no Yu)” on April 23, to give visitors to the park a chance to take a bath while watching capybaras do the same.

▼ Here’s an image of what the facility is expected to look like:

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▼ You can apparently watch the bathing rodents outside too!

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The park actually renovated an existing onsen facility to create the Kingdom Hot Spring and specifically turned the outside area into a bath for the capybaras. It plans to have three to four capybaras each just outside the men’s and women’s baths for guests to observe, and we have a strong feeling that the furry fellas will thoroughly captivate and entertain visitors to the onsen!

And if that isn’t enough to capture your attention, they’ve decorated the lobby with a tropical theme and will even have some animals on display, including  the common marmoset and the toucan bird.

▼ Here’s what the lobby of the onsen will look like:

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Nasu Animal Kingdom boasts that the bath is the only one of its kind in the country (yup, we can’t imagine there would be many hot springs where  you can see capybara bathing), which should make it all the more attractive to capybara fans.

▼ We just can’t seem to get enough of our bath-loving rodent friend!

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If you’re planning to pay the capybaras a visit, the Kingdom Hot Spring is located completely inside the Nasu Animal Kingdom, so you’ll need to pay admission for the park to use the bathhouse. In addition, there will be a separate “bathing fee” for using the hot spring facility, priced at 500 yen (US$4.45) for adults (junior high school and up) and 250 yen for children (from age 3 to grade school).

So, what do you say to a unique bathing experience at an animal park? The hot onsen water and the sight of the capybaras are sure to help you relax and soothe any tense muscles!

Park information
Nasu Animal Kingdom / 那須どうぶつ王国
Tochigi-ken, Nasu-gun, Nasu-machi, Ōshima 1042-1
栃木県那須郡那須町大島 1042−1
Kingdom Hot Spring hours: 1 p.m.-5:30 p.m. (weekdays), 1 p.m.-6:00 p.m. (weekends and holidays)
Closed Wednesdays
General park admission: 2,000 yen for adults (junior high school and up), 1,000 yen for children (from age 3 to grade school)
Website

Source: Nasu Animal Kingdom website via Narinari.com
Images: Nasu Animal Kingdom website

While you’re in Tochigi…

Life-size Totoro FOUND! Live out your Ghibli fantasies in Tochigi Prefecture 

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