Higashiyama Zoo

The name of Nagoya’s Higashiyama Zoo is simply appropriate.  The word “Higashiyama” is Japanese for “East Mountain”, and this animal collection is located in the hilly area located to the east of the large metropolis.  Due to its location, the landscape of the zoo includes many gentle (and some not so gentle) slopes, and lots of green vegetation spread over an area of 32.21 hectares.  Visiting Higashiyama provides visitors with some sense of being in a natural area, despite the facility’s close proximity to downtown Nagoya.  And although Higashiyama is celebrating the 80^th anniversary of its opening in 1937, recent renovation and remodeling have resulted in a zoo that felt more modern than the other zoos in Japan that I have so far visited.

The Zoojium

After entering the main gate, one of the first structures that visitors will encounter is the “Zoojium” housing the Asian elephants.  Completed in September 2013, this facility has an area of 3350 square meters, and features a two-story building that doubles as an elevated viewing platform and also as a space for a number of educational displays.  Of the elephant enclosures that I have so far seen in Japan, this was the largest, seemed to be the best equipped, and had the most engaging educational messages.

The elephant in the photo below is a statue replica.

View from the second story of the viewing house.

Slit-view windows decorated with artificial trees – designed to give visitors the sensation of viewing the elephants while in a forest.

Asian elephant (Elephas maximus)

Baby elephant

Educational displays inside of the viewing house

Some of the exhibits were three-dimensional.

View of “back-yard” area.  Six separate cells for elephants’ night quarters are aligned along right side and far interior.

Koala House

Another impressive exhibit at Higashiyama was the Koala House.  This enclosure was quite popular, with a line of visitors that took about 15 minutes to enter.  (This particular visit was on a national holiday.)  The exhibit appeared to have a number of corporate sponsors.

Many visitors stopped to take photos while standing next to this replica Koala.

Interior of Koala house – no flash photography allowed.

Koala (Phascolarctos cinereus)

Just outside of the popular Koala exhibit was this row of small cages containing tropical birds.  Sadly, most visitors didn’t even seem to notice the exhibits’ existence.

Large Cats

Higashiyama had lions, tigers, snow leopards, and jaguars.  The enclosure for the lions was considerably large, the enclosure for the tiger was relatively small, and the enclosures for the snow leopards and jaguars could probably be best described as sad, small cages.

Wide shot of lion enclosure

Lion enclosure with visitors viewing lions from viewing cove that extends partially into the exhibit.

Lion (Panthera leo)

General area of tiger enclosure – a nice shady and cool area

Tiger exhibit as seen from east side

Tiger (Panthera tigris)

Bear Area

All of the bears appeared to be clustered in one general area.  There were two Malaysian Sun Bears, two spectacled bears, a Japanese brown bear, and a family of polar bears.

Malaysian Sun Bear enclosure

Malaysian Sun Bear (Helarctos malayanus)

Second Malaysian Sun Bear exhibit

 Japanese Brown Bear exhibit as seen from second story.

Brown bear exhibit as seen from ground level.

African Animals Zone

Black rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis)

 Hippopotamus exhibit

Hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibious)

Chimpanzee exhibit 

Chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes)

American Animals Zone

Prairie dog exhibit

Black-tailed Prairie dog (Cynomys ludovicianus)

Tunnel tube connecting one part of Prairie dog exhibit to a separate enclosure

Simulated prairie dog tunnels

Cute little guy!

Bald Eagle enclosure

Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus)

Beaver exhibit

North American Beaver (Castor Canadensis)

American bison exhibit

Timber wolf exhibit

South American Tapir exhibit

South American Tapir (Tapirus terrestris)

Capybara (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris)

Other Assorted Animals

Volcano rabbit exhibit 

Volcano Rabbit (Romerolagus diazi) - these rabbits have been assessed as “Endangered” by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.  Higashiyama Zoo was the first in Japan to succeed in breeding efforts.

Giraffe exhibit

California sea lion exhibit

California Sea Lion (Zalophus Californianus)

Japanese Animals Zone

Japanese macaque exhibit with viewing cove extending into enclosure.

Inside view of viewing cove

Tsushima Yamaneko House

Tsushima leopard cat (Prionailurus bengalensis euptilurus)

Bird Hall

Visitors could view the birds at relatively close range

Black-necked stilt (Himantopus mexicanus)

Scarlet Ibis (Endocimus ruber)

Natural Animal House

This facility was basically a giant green house, mostly housing reptiles and amphibians.

One section was like an indoor garden with pools for the alligators, crocodiles and gharials.

Nile Crocodile (Crocodylus niloticus)

Another section featured glass-windowed enclosures housing small reptiles and other animals.

Central Bearded Dragon (Pogona vitticeps)

The photo below features one of Higashiyama Zoo’s well-known attractions, the “World Medaka House”.  The facility showcases freshwater creatures, many from Japan’s many streams and rivers.  Unfortunately, I ran out of time and was unable to see this particular exhibit.

Close Encounters

Generally, the enclosures at Higashiyama appeared to provide safe distances and/or barriers between visitors and the “wild” animals.  One exception where visitors could possibly get within “touching distance” of “wild” animals was the Red Kangaroo (Macropus rufus) enclosure.

There was only a short fence (about 1 meter) separating visitors from the kangaroos. An overzealous visitor might be able to reach into the enclosure to attempt to pet or touch an animal, and perhaps get his hand bitten in the process. 

Another area where visitors could get very close to animals was the children’s zoo zone at the east end of the zoo.   In the “Fureai Hiroba”, which roughly translates to “Encounter Plaza”, visitors could pet domestic farm animals such as guinea pigs and goats.

 On this particular day, there was a sheep shearing demonstration.

Visitors were encouraged to wash and disinfect their hands before and after touching any animals.

Long line of visitors waiting to hold a guinea pig in their lap

Visitors could also pet the goats.

The Cages

Not all of the enclosures and exhibits were modern state-of-the-art.  The polar bear exhibit was the classic “concrete-painted-white-to-look-like-snow” type of enclosure seen at many other Japanese zoos.

The polar bear stood at a gate located at the rear of the exhibit.  He kept swaying his head left to right and appeared to want to be let back into the interior quarters.  His fur also seemed to have tinges of green algae.

This row of cages housed animals such as Jaguars, Snow Leopards, Serval cats, Raccoons, and Fennec Foxes.

Row of small cages for monkeys.

Ring-tailed lemurs (Lemur catta)

Tall cages for raptors and other birds

Laughing Kookaburra (Decelo novaeguineae)

Food and Souvenirs

I found 3 permanent souvenir shops and 4 permanent food concessions within the zoo grounds.  The shops sold a good number of branded goods including books about the zoo, items featuring the zoo logo, and even a series of goods featuring the zoo’s famous male gorilla, “Shabani”.

On this national holiday, there were also a number of temporary food stands and food trucks to accommodate the overflow crowds.  The food lines were so long that I chose to not eat anything during this particular visit.

Gardens

Higashiyama also features a botanical garden section (which I did not visit) and a large pond which is utilized for recreational purposes.

There is also a monorail for visitors to ride, despite the fact that the grounds are not so vast that a ride is necessary.  (I managed to walk through all areas of the zoo without a problem.)  I had the impression that the monorail was mainly for the entertainment of children.

Visitors could also rent swan boats and paddle around the large pond.

Getting There

Higashiyama Zoo is easily accessible.  Take the subway’s Higashiyama line from Nagoya station to the “Higashiyama Kouen” station.  After emerging from the underground onto the street level, it is only a 3 minute walk east to the zoo’s front gate.  Admission for adults is 500 yen, quite a bargain considering the general quality of the zoo.  Children below intermediate school are admitted for free. 

(Note: All photos taken in this post were taken during a visit on May 4, 2017.  The comments in this post are based on observations made on that day.  Conditions may have since changed.  Please check it out for yourself!)