The Capybara Hot Spring Bath, Explained

Yes, it's real: in Japan, capybaras soak in hot baths every winter. The tradition began in 1982 at the Izu Shaboten Zoo on Japan's Izu Peninsula, according to the park itself, and it still happens there every year. This season the bath runs from November 21, 2026, to April 4, 2027. Here's what's known about why capybaras love the water, what the real bath looks like, and a version you can give a capybara-loving friend.

Where it started

The Izu Shaboten Zoo is in Itō, in Shizuoka Prefecture. It calls its bath the "original" (元祖, ganso): in a 2023 press release, the park says its open-air capybara bath began in 1982 and has become a winter tradition of the Izu area.

The floating fruit came later. The "yuzu bath", with that Japanese citrus bobbing in the water around the winter solstice, began in 1996 and turns 30 this season, according to the park's 2026 announcement. The same page notes that 2026 marks 60 years since the park started caring for capybaras.

Why capybaras love the water

Capybaras come from South America. They live east of the Andes along riverbanks, beside ponds and in marshes, and need a swimming hole to stay healthy, says the San Diego Zoo.

At home, water is how they cool off. A study of capybaras in a Brazilian city found that the hotter it got, the more of them were in the water, and its authors conclude that capybaras regulate their temperature through behavior (Teodoro and Aoki, Oecologia Australis, 2019).

A Japanese winter flips it around: it's cold, and the zoo's warm water is the best place to be. A capybara is also built to sit still in water. Its eyes, ears and nostrils are near the top of its head, so it can keep almost its whole body submerged and still see, hear and breathe (San Diego Zoo). That's why they look so blissful in the photos: just a head above the water, eyes half closed, nothing to do.

What the bath at Izu Shaboten Zoo looks like

From the park's 2026 page:

• Season: Saturday, November 21, 2026, to Sunday, April 4, 2027.
• Times: weekdays, once a day, 1:30 to 2:30 pm. Weekends, holidays and the winter and spring school breaks, twice a day: 10:30 to 11:30 am and 1:30 to 2:30 pm (Japan time).
• Opening day: the capybaras "open" the bath by chewing through a ribbon of fresh grass.
• Special baths: in past seasons, the park has floated bitter oranges, apples or roses in the water on weekends and holidays, according to its 2023 press release. The same release warns that everything can change with the animals' health and the weather.

If you're planning a trip, check the dates on the park's page before you go.

A capybara bath for your friend

If your friend saves every video of capybaras in a tub, give her the human version. A small box with:

• bath salts or a good soap,
• a candle,
• a soft towel,
• and two or three mandarins or oranges to float in the water (yuzu is hard to find in most US stores).

Add a note: "Instructions: get in, close your eyes, answer no one. Like a capybara." There are more ideas like this in our guide to capybara Christmas gifts.

And on this side of the ocean

Capy and Bara aren't real capybaras: they're our characters, two capybara best friends. But Capy knows a good hot tub too. In the print in the photo she sits in a wooden tub with a little orange on her head, under the words "Wish you were here. The water is perfect." Meet them here, or take the quiz: are you a Capy or a Bara?