Miyagi Zao Fox Village

In Japanese folklore, foxes are depicted as intelligent, mystical creatures that possess the ability to change their appearance - often to trick humans.  After spending over five hours on a bright autumn day among well over one hundred of them at Miyagi Zao Fox Village in Miyagi Prefecture, I started to feel a little bewitched myself.  The animals here are charmingly cute and endearing.  And yet, I couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something deep and mysterious hidden among the trees.

Zao Fox Village is a simple proposition.  Its main area consists of a plot of forest land a little smaller than an American baseball field (or perhaps two-thirds of a soccer pitch) that is surrounded by a chain-link fence about 3 meters high.  Within that area are a number of roofed walkways, numerous small roofed shelters for the foxes, a fenced area for juvenile foxes, a platform shelter from where visitors can feed the foxes, and even a Shinto shrine.  Within this main area, the foxes are free to roam.  On this particular autumn day, the leaves on the trees were just starting to change color, and walking around this small forest would have been a near-idyllic experience if it wasn’t for the almost constant background music that was broadcast over loudspeakers located near the western perimeter of this main enclosure.

Can you spot the foxes hidden in the forest?

There were many small shelters like the one below, with foxes sleeping within them and under them.

Foxes at Very Close Range

While the foxes at Zao Fox Village are not totally tamed, they are by no means wild.  If I walked directly towards a fox, it would quickly walk away.  But if I stood quiet and still in one place, usually at least one or two curious foxes would eventually approach me to check if I was carrying any treats for them to eat.  From photographs found on Zao Fox Village’s blog and on the internet, and from observations made on an earlier visit, I suspect that many, if not most, of the newborn foxes here are extensively handled by humans.

On this sunny day, most of the foxes spent most of the time snoozing.  I could walk right up to the sleeping foxes, and if I were inclined to risk getting bitten, I would have certainly been able to touch them.  On the occasion when a sleeping fox sensed my approach, it might startle, raise its head, give me a very brief look over, and then go back to sleep.  These foxes are obviously accustomed to the close presence of humans.

The below photo shows the feeding platform located in the middle of the main enclosed area.  Visitors can buy small bags of specially made sausage bits at the souvenir store for 100 yen.  Signs posted throughout the facility instruct visitors to toss feed the foxes only from the platform, and to not show the foxes the bags of treats while walking around outside of the platform.  During the five hours I was in Zao Fox Village on this particular Saturday, I would estimate that between 80 to 100 people entered the forest area.  At least half of the visitors fed the foxes.

Some of these foxes seem to be quite well fed.

Different Varieties of Fox

The Zao Fox Village homepage explains that there are six varieties of foxes kept at the facility.  The foxes living in the main large open area appear to be Ezo Red Foxes and color variations of red foxes.  The home page (Japanese language only, the English translations here are mine) describes them as Kita kitsune (Ezo Red Fox); Purachina kitsune (Platinum fox), Juuji gitsune (Cross fox), and Gin gitsune (Silver fox).

Outside of the main open area, there is a wood-framed structure housing a number of Arctic foxes.

(Photo April 26, 2014)

(Photo April 26, 2014)

These are described on the homepage as Hokkyoku gitsune shado (Arctic fox - Shadow), and Hokkyoku gitsune buru- (Arctic fox - Blue).  Unfortunately, scientific names are not provided on either the homepage or the signs posted throughout the facility.  Noteworthy is the fact that Ezo Red Foxes (Vulpes vulpes schrencki) are native to the island of Hokkaido, and not the island of Honshu where Miyagi Prefecture is located.  This fact suggests that the foxes at Zao Fox Village, including the color variations, were originally imported (purchased?) from Hokkaido or perhaps even from other countries.

Lots of Foxes, Lots of Cages

Zao Fox Village has a very large number of foxes.  In all probability, they have too many foxes.  Upon entering the main area, one is greeted by the below scene of numerous sleeping foxes.

I was unable to count how many foxes were resident in the main forest enclosure area, but I think a lower conservative estimate would be about 50 to 70 individuals, with an upper estimate being over 100.  And since the foxes in the main area are free to roam, they are free to interact, and presumably to reproduce.  

Besides the foxes living in the main open area, there were also many foxes living in cages and pens located on the southern and western perimeters of the main area.  The signs on these cages and pens indicated that these foxes were juveniles or foxes that were receiving some type of medical treatment. 

There were 2 juvenile foxes and 1 mother in the pen in the foreground and about 11 juveniles in the pen in the background.

There were 9 juveniles in this set of pens.

The structure below housed 20 juveniles.

This photograph, taken from the opposite side of the pen, shows some of the 20 juveniles sleeping.

There were another 11 juveniles in this pen.

The sign above the cages below indicates that the cages are for medical treatment. I could not get close enough to see what types of injuries the foxes had incurred.

The sign on the cage below states that the 2 foxes inside are Hondo kitsune, the variety native to Honshu island (Vulpes vulpes japonica).  As far as I could see, these were the only two Hondo kitsune residing at Zao Fox Village. The size of this particular cage was only about 2 meters from side to side and about 2 meters from front to back.  With only wire mesh for a floor, it did not appear to be very comfortable.

All in all, I counted about 130 juvenile foxes in the various pens/cages located on the property.  This number does not include the foxes roaming freely in the main open forest area.  If there are at least 50 to 70 foxes in the main enclosure area, it would mean there are at least 180 to 200 foxes residing at this facility.  An entry on Zao Fox Village’s internet blog stated that 150 pups were born at Zao in 2014.  Further checking of the blog indicates that this year’s baby boom of 150 pups was very unusual.  The entries in the blog mentioned 19 pups born in 2007, 31 pups born in 2008, 56 pups born in 2012, and 28 pups born in 2013.  (Numbers were not found for years 2009, 2010, and 2011).  It will be interesting to see how many pups are born in 2015, and how the facility handles the space crowding issues.  I get the sense that the open forest area is already overloaded.  When they move the juveniles to the open area, it will be wall-to-wall fox.

Other Animals

On the day of my Autumn visit, I also counted 51 rabbits, 2 ponies, 7 goats, 4 crows, and 1 Japanese Badger.

These 3 crows had a main space of about 2 meters wide by 2 meters deep by 2 meters tall with a small attached box about one-fourth of that size.

Below is a Nihon anaguma (Japanese Badger: Meles anakuma).

Explanations and Cautions

In Zao Fox Village, there were many caution signs and explanatory signs.  This sign posted by the entrance to the main area instructs visitors to not allow children to carry food for the foxes, to hide the food while walking through the enclosure, and to only feed the foxes from the designated platform.

This sign explains the attributes of the Kita Kitsune (Ezo Red Fox).  There were similar explanatory signs for the other color variations.

This sign compares fox ages to human ages.

This sign explains the frequency of disinfecting procedures undertaken at Zao Fox Village to prevent diseases.

This sign explains the disease Chinococciasis Multilocularis and the measures taken by Zao Fox Village to check for and prevent the disease.

This signs tells visitors to not insert their fingers into the cage.

Opportunities for Animal Encounters

Immediately inside the entrance of Zao Fox Village, there is a buffer area where visitors can relax before and after entering the main enclosure.  There were 3 foxes in this area leashed to poles or posts.  A yellow plastic chain marked the area around each fox that visitors should not enter.

There were 2 foxes in the below cage.  Visitors could carry and pose for a photo with one of these young foxes for 400 yen.  Information from the blog indicated that, in usual years, these photo opportunities stop at the beginning of July.  Apparently, since there were so many late born pups this year, these posing sessions continued until the end of October.

Visitors could also hold and pose with a rabbit for 100 yen.

Food and Souvenirs

(Photo April 26, 2014)

The souvenir shop at Zao Fox Village is very well stocked with all sorts of cute fox-related goods: plush toys, keychains, figurines, shoe horns, photo books, etc.  There were also a lot of locally-produced Japanese manju sweets, cookies, and candies available.  Fox lovers should be forewarned that the souvenir shop is decorated with a number of fox taxidermy specimens, a fact that at least some visitors might consider to be a bit morbid or even objectionable.

There was a small dining area adjacent to the souvenir area, but since the kitchen was closed when I visited this facility, I cannot report on the food offerings. 

Getting There

Miyagi Zao Fox Village is located in the mountains about a 20-minute drive from Shiroishi Town in Miyagi Prefecture.  Since the only practical way to get there is by motor vehicle, you either have to have your own wheels, rent a car, or take a taxi.  The taxi that took me from the JR Shiroishi train station to Zao Fox Village cost me 3730 yen.  The return ride cost 3640 yen.  If you have a license to drive in Japan, a rental car may be a cheaper option.  Admission was 1000 yen for adults and students in intermediate school and up.  Children in elementary school and younger get in free.

(Note: Unless otherwise noted, the photos taken in this post were taken during a visit on October 25, 2014.  The comments in this post are based on observations made on that day.  Conditions may have since changed.  Please check it out for yourself!)

Video of the foxes at Miyagi Zao Fox Village: