Hi all, I'm starting this thread to report on the Japanese zoos and aquariums I've been to. Feel free to ask any questions about the institutions. Ueno Zoo - Visited 07/2019 Location: Ueno Park, Tokyo Size: Large collection, medium acreage Highlights: Nocturnal primates (aye-aye, spectral tarsier, three-striped night monkey, Senegal bushbaby, 3 slow loris species), gray bamboo lemur, some bats, Japanese native and endemic mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians, great slaty woodpecker. Cons: Charismatic megafauna species and monkeys kept in small enclosures next to each other, cage bars for species like giraffe, okapi, and mountain zebra make for difficult photography.
Tama Zoo - Visited 07/2019 Location: Hino, suburb of Tokyo. Basically the complementary sister location to Ueno Zoo. Size: Large collection, very large acreage Highlights: Insectivore house (2 mole species, 3 shrew species), 2 enormous insectariums including a butterfly aviary and many endemic grasshoppers and crickets, glow-worm cave, walk-through waterfowl aviary, massive mixed-species eagle aviary, king cheetah, Tasmanian devil, Japanese weasel, Ezo mountain hare, 4 macropod species, hoofstock (golden takin, chamois). Cons: The moles and shrews can be difficult to photograph. Park is very large, so elderly, wheelchair-bound, and stroller-pushing visitors may have trouble getting to all exhibits.
Inokashira Park Zoo - Visited 07/2019 Location: Inokashira Park, Tokyo Size: Medium collection, small acreage Highlights: Freshwater aquarium with diving-bell spider, Japanese giant salamander, and many endemic fishes, amphibians, and water snakes. Waterfowl aviaries and ponds. A walk-through squirrel aviary. Tsushima leopard cat, Japanese marten. Native and endemic birds (copper pheasant, crested kingfisher, Japanese green and pygmy woodpeckers). Cons: Park split into 2 sections, so don’t forget to visit both. Also, there’s an exhibit that used to hold an Asian elephant who died a few years back that could be used for another purpose now, but it’s just empty.
IZoo - Visited 07/2019 Location: Hama, Kawazu-cho, Shizuoka, on the Izu Peninsula Size: Large collection, small acreage Highlights: The entire zoo is one large reptile house with countless rarities. Earless monitor, Galapagos land iguana, Galapagos lava lizard, Central American river turtle, many species of Caribbean iguanas, monitor lizards, and a few crocodilians (they added gharial after I left). There is a Komodo dragon exhibit, the only one in Japan, under construction. Nice outdoor enclosures for many lizard species; even Jackson’s chameleon is kept outdoors. Cons: Not accessible by public transit; you need to take a taxi, which is pricey. Otherwise it’s a wonderland for herp enthusiasts.
KawaZoo - Visited 07/2019 Location: Nashimoto, Kawazu-cho, Shizuoka, on the Izu Peninsula. Sister location to IZoo. Size: Large collection, single building Highlights: This unassuming building is perhaps one of the world’s largest collections of amphibians, and only exhibits amphibians. Goliath frog! Centrolenid glass frogs, Andean marsupial tree frog, large dart frog collection. A walk-through dark room with plants and a stream with free-roaming hyperollid African frogs. An outdoor rice paddy with native and endemic frogs, toads, and newts. Cons: The walk-through frog encounter is innovative, but misbehaving or clumsy visitors could easily trample or steal the frogs. The outdoor rice paddy courtyard is flanked by more outdoor displays of endemic tree frogs and toads, but the glare from the sun is intense and makes it hard to spot them. Also, many of the vivariums are large have too many plants growing in them, making the frogs near impossible to see. Only 60% of the species were in plain sight when I went. The location is also in the middle of nowhere, although there is a bus.
Atagawa Tropical & Alligator Garden Location: Atagawa, Higashiizu-cho, Shizuoka, on the Izu Peninsula. Size: Small animal collection, large botanical collection. Divided into 2 parts, with a shuttle bus. Highlights: The only Amazonian manatee outside South America. Numerous crocodilian species, including Philippine and New Guinea crocodiles. The only collection of nominate subspecies red panda in Japan. Chinese giant salamander. The botanical garden is gorgeous and focuses on water lilies including giant water lilies, orchids, and tropical fruit trees. Cons: Manatee and crocodilian enclosures are small for their occupants. Also, there’s nothing else to see in Atagawa, but it is a train stop, so it’s not hard to get to this zoo.
I'd put the smuggled animals under the "cons" category myself (e.g. the Galapagos species and some of the Caribbean iguana species).
What did you think of the glow-worm cave at Tama Zoo? In concept it sounds fantastic, but no one that I've talked to that has seen it has been particularly impressed with the reality of it. Are there any good elephant exhibits in Japan?
Do you have proof that they were smuggled? I have no idea if they were smuggled for the zoo, if they were smuggled animals confiscated and given to the zoo for care, or simply legally acquired with permits. All I know is that several species are doing well and breeding. Also IZoo has successfully obtained gharials from the Indian government, so they seem reputable. However, neither IZoo nor KawaZoo is an accredited member of the JAZA, so maybe they have gotten into trouble before. I don’t know the full story so I won’t judge.
The glow-worm cave is unique, but it’s just a bunch of luminous stuff in a dark room that doesn’t move or anything. Exhibits on flashlight fish are more interesting displays of bioluminescence, seeing as the light sources swim around. And I don’t know if I’d consider any of the elephant exhibits I saw good. None were particularly large, and some were small (if there’s one thing Japan lacks, it’s large stretches of flat land). All I can tell is that the animals have been alive and healthy for decades.
I have contacted the relevant people previously about them. Nothing can be done about them because Japan won't act on its responsibilities under CITES (not just in this specific case, but in many others as well).
Tokyo Sea Life Park - Visited 07/2019 Location: Rinkai-cho, Edogawa, Tokyo. A riverside park with a birdwatching marsh. Size: Large collection, large building Highlights: A donut-shaped tank full of massive Pacific bluefin tuna and other tuna species. Marine fish both endemic to various regions of Japan and around the world, from South Australia to Peru to South Africa to the Mediterranean. Also collections of deep-sea fish, Arctic fish, and Antarctic fish. Outdoor penguin pool with little blue penguins. Tufted puffins and common murres. There is also a path to a small wading bird collection and a separate building with large freshwater pools exhibiting river fish. Cons: The layout of the building lets it get very crowded at peak hours, with children scrambling and shoving to see each tank. You have to wait your turn to see each tank.
Maxell Aqua Park Shinagawa - Visited 07/2019 Location: Shinagawa Prince Hotel, Minato, Tokyo. Size: Medium collection, medium-sized building. Highlights: Main tunnel tank has dwarf sawfish and green sawfish, many rays and guitarfish, including a reef manta ray. Juvenile scalloped hammerhead, juvenile sandbar shark. Next to a major train station, so easy to access. Cons: Paths around the main tanks are narrow and crowd easily. California sea lion, South American fur seal, and small-clawed otter kept in small enclosures. Not all fish species are labeled.
Sumida Aquarium - Visited 07/2019 Location: Tokyo SkyTree Tower, Oshiage, Sumida, Tokyo. Size: Small collection, medium-sized building. Highlights: A large colony of Magellanic penguins, South American fur seal. Wrought-iron butterflyfish. Jellyfish collection. Gorgeous plant tanks personally designed by the late artist Takashi Amano. It’s styled like an art gallery and less like a traditional aquarium. Cons: Admission is expensive for an institution with very few species. Also, many of the fish species in the planted tanks go unlabeled.
Sunshine Aquarium - Visited 07/2019 Location: Sunshine City mall, Toshima, Tokyo. Size: Medium collection, small building. Highlights: Baikal seal, Australian ghost shark. A decent mix of marine and freshwater fishes. An outdoor rooftop with California and South American sea lions in a water-slide-like enclosure to let them exercise in a small space. A layout that lets African penguins swim overhead. There’s also a special exhibition hall that changes species once every few months, that costs extra for admission. Cons: Exhibits are small for the larger species. Not all fish species are labeled, and the labels don’t use scientific names or explain much about the animals.
Kamogawa Sea World - Visited 07/2019 Location: Higashi-Cho, Kamogawa, Chiba. Size: Large collection, 3 buildings and some outdoor exhibits. Highlights: Orca, beluga whale, harbor porpoise, Pacific white-sided dolphin. Walrus, Steller sea lion, Okhotsk ringed seal. Ocean sunfish, deep-sea fishes including silver chimaera. Only aquarium I know of with flying fish on display. Baby loggerhead turtles. Also great exhibits for Japanese river, estuarine, and coastal ecosystems. Cons: Smallest tank for orcas I’ve seen. Not all species listed on JAZA are still there, or exhibited. Only aquarium with Caspian seal, but not exhibited when I was there and they denied me access behind the scenes to see them. Also, the park is in the middle of nowhere, although there are coach buses from Tokyo.
Numazu Deep Sea Aquarium - Visited 07/2019 Location: Senbonminatomachi, Numazu, near a fish market and restaurant district in the harbor. Size: Medium collection, small building. Highlights: The most comprehensive collection of deep-sea creatures, many of which are not displayed in other Japanese aquariums. A dark room full of splitfin flashlight fish. Short-beaked echidnas are also kept, for some reason, as are numerous species of shallow-water fish and crustaceans for comparison to their deep-sea relatives. The museum section has frozen coelacanth taxidermies, as well as cleared and stained specimens of deep-sea fish. Cons: The entrance and first few tanks of the aquarium are in a narrow hall, so you have to jostle a bit if the crowd is large. The aquarium itself is also a long walk from the nearest train station.
Noboribetsu Marine Park Nixe - Visited 07/2018 Location: Noboribetsu, Hokkaido. Size: Medium collection, medium park grounds. Highlights: An underwater tunnel for fishes of the Bering Sea and the northwestern Pacific, including Kaluga sturgeon, rockfish, and skates. A sicklefin lemon shark in the tropical underwater tunnel. A knifetooth sawfish. Some Arctic fishes. Penguin parade featuring king, gentoo, and African penguins strolling around the park grounds. Small reptile house with some interesting herps and invertebrates. Cons: Harbor seal kept in a very small pool with an awkward looped water slide thing for them to swim through. Sawfish also displayed in a tank too small for it. Aquarium’s location may be hard to get to; I took a tour bus.
Otaru Aquarium - Visited 07/2018 Location: Shukutsu, Otaru, Hokkaido. Size: Medium collection, medium park grounds. Highlights: A comprehensive collection of marine mammals: walrus, Steller sea lion, harbor seal, spotted seal, ringed seal, bearded seal, South American sea lion, harbor porpoise. Most pinnipeds kept in a “Sea Beast Park” with access to rocks, seaweed, wild fish swimming into their enclosures, and a program where visitors can buy fish to feed them (could lead to obesity, though). A copper shark (rare in aquariums) was in the shark tank. Most of the focus is on marine mammals, but fish are well-represented, too. Cons: Sea turtle enclosure was small. Marine mammals and penguins have to perform a lot of shows, which were a mix of enrichment and stunts.
Thanks very much for compiling this list of Japanese zoos and aquariums that you've visited. I appreciate the time and effort required and I'm looking forward to further entries on this thread!
