Located
in the hills of the Shirahama resort area in Wakayama Prefecture, Wakayama
Adventure World consistently appears in on-line lists of the top “must see”
zoos in Japan. This animal-based theme
park is built on a large, spread-out property that includes a safari park,
amusement park rides, a marine area, and numerous shops and food concessions. A marvel of commercial enterprise, Adventure
World has a relatively high admission charge (4500 yen for adults), and visitors
are presented with numerous opportunities to part with their money. There are so many tempting extra activities,
special events, goods and souvenirs that even the most frugal of visitors is likely
to overspend their budget.
In the middle of the arcade was a small fountain with two penguin figurines and two live penguins.
There was also a small cage with a toco toucan.
Panda Love
One
of Adventure World’s primary attractions is its stable of five pandas. This is said to be the largest group of pandas
in one collection outside of China. Other
zoos in Japan that house pandas are Kobe Oji Zoo in Kobe which has one, and
Ueno Zoo in Tokyo which has three. (The
birth of the baby panda at Ueno Zoo, and its first display last month was prominently
featured on Japan’s national television news.)
There were two separate buildings that housed the pandas at Adventure
World. The first building, “Panda Love”,
housed three of the pandas, and is one of the first exhibits that visitors
encounter after entering Adventure World.
It featured an outdoor area and an indoor area.
Indoor exhibit area
The second panda building was rather bluntly named “Breeding Center”. (Adventure World has been rather successful at producing baby pandas.)
The Breeding Center had two indoor exhibit areas and two separated outdoor exhibit areas.
Chart showing past and present resident pandas.
Outdoor exhibit area
Dolphin Show
Adventure World is also
well-known for its “Marine World” and its 20-minute aquatic show featuring
Bottlenose dolphins, Risso’s dolphins, and False Killer whales. The show was a highly choreographed
production that featured a storyline introduced on a giant video screen and enhanced
by recorded music. The timing of the
performance was so seamless that observing the stunts and tricks performed by
the animals seemed like watching theatre.
The particular performance that I observed included 12 animals and about
7 trainers who obviously put in a lot of work with the animals. After the show, I learned that there were
about 40 cetaceans kept at Adventure World, and the animals used for each of
the 3 daily shows are rotated to some degree. 
In
recent years, the keeping of cetaceans in aquariums and having them perform in
shows has become a matter of heated debate in many western countries. So far, I have not heard this debate discussed
very much by the Japanese media. One of
the usually heard criticisms is that the pools in which dolphins are kept are
too small. I do not know how much space
dolphins need, but for what it’s worth, the large show pool at Adventure World
appeared to be roughly about 50 meters wide and about 8 meters deep. Personally, after having observed wild
Bottlenose dolphins swimming in the ocean off of Kumamoto Prefecture, any pool
seems somewhat claustrophobic. (See "Dolphin Watching in Amakusa". March 25, 2016)
Besides the large show pool, I observed three other show pools which I believe are used for dolphin encounter experiences and performances featuring seals.
Safari World
A
third well-known feature of Adventure World is the Safari World, which was
divided into a carnivorous animal zone and an herbivorous animal zone. The easiest way to see the safari area was to ride
the “Kenya Train”, a train-shaped truck pulling a series of trailers with
seats. While the Kenya train was free, visitors
could pay a separate fee to join a double-decker bus tour (2500 yen), a caravan
bus tour (2500 yen) or a jeep tour (3000 yen or 12000 yen for a family jeep)
which included closer access to some of the animals.
Kenya
Train
Visitors
could also access the herbivorous animal area on foot (free), by bicycle (1000
yen rental), and golf cart (4000 yen for 4 people, 4500 yen for 5 people).
Herbivore Zone
The
herbivorous animal zone started with the African Elephants.
Further along the way was the Black Rhinocerous
Australian
emu
Carnivore Zone
Some parts of the carnivorous
animal zone can be seen from the walking trail.
Lion
area as seen from Kenya Train
Cheetah
area as seen from Kenya Train
Amur
tiger area as seen from Kenya Train
Walking Safari
As
mentioned earlier, the herbivorous animal areas were also accessible on
foot.
Trail head
for the walking safari
Some
parts of the walking trail included mud, gravel, and uneven slopes. These conditions would probably be too
difficult for visitors with walking problems or visitors pushing a baby cart.
The
walking safari trail allowed visitors to get relatively close to all of the herbivorous
animals, but much less access to the carnivorous animals. There was one area where visitors could view some
of the Cheetahs at relatively close range through a wire fence.
There
was also an observation tower overlooking the lion area.
Family Hiroba
Located
close to the main entrance of Adventure World was an area that featured raptors
and animals domesticated by humans.
Asian
elephant enclosure – on a limited basis, some visitors were allowed to ride
these Asian elephants
Camels
Cages
for raptors
The
American Bald Eagle enclosure did not appear to be very big.
Harris
Hawk enclosure also not very big
Alpaca
and pony area
Red
Panda area
Animal Land
This
area featured aquatic and ocean animals from both poles.
Penguins
Polar
bears
California
Sea Lion
Close Encounters Fureai
Hiroba
The
word “fureai” translates to “contact”.
This area allowed visitors to get very close to the residents. Visitors may even buy feed to give to some of
the animals.
Macaws
at entrance
Meerkat
exhibit
Asian
Small-clawed Otters
Domestic
Pigs and goats
Food
for pigs, 100 yen per cup
Capybaras
exhibit
Capybaras
and penguins in same enclosure
Food
for Capybara: 100 yen per cup
Chilean
flaminoes and Caribbean flamingoes
Food
for flamingoes: 100 yen per cup
Food
for Emus, deer, and Patagonia Cavys: 100 yen per cup
Instructions
on how to feed an emu
Exhibits
of squirrel monkeys, marmosets, tamarins, and macaques
“Tori
no Rakuen” (Bird Paradise) Building housing tropical birds and other small
animals
Immediately
inside the entrance of the “Tori no Rakuen” was a small island with squirrel
monkeys.
The
inside of this facility featured a temperature-controlled green house.
Aldabra
tortoises
Toco
toucans
The
rear of this facility featured a large net-covered garden area with a number of
varieties of geese, cranes, a peafowl and ibises.
Lion Cubs
Three male lion cubs had been
born two months before my visit. In the mid-afternoon, these three cubs were
brought out for some sunshine, and a zookeeper explained the cubs’ eating
habits and their rapid growth. I arrived
a little late, so I do not know if there was an explanation of why the cubs had
been separated from their mother for hand-raising. Visitors were allowed to take photographs of
the cubs, but were not allowed to touch them. 
Afterwards,
visitors were able to view the three cubs at the Wild Animal Medical Center. Twice a day, visitors could observe zookeepers
feed the cubs bottled milk.
Very
cute
The
medical center also included an operating room that could be viewed from
outside through large windows.
Amusement Rides
As
mentioned earlier, Adventure World includes amusement park thrill rides. Some of them required an extra fee above the
admission ticket. I only rode the Ferris
wheel which cost 700 yen for a ride that lasted about 15 to 20 minutes.
Photos
taken from atop the Ferris wheel
Food and Souvenirs
Looking at the Adventure World
map, there are 3 restaurants and 4 food concessions located throughout the
park. Even though my visit was during
what is considered their “off-season”, there were so many visitors that all the
indoor restaurants had long lines.
Eating at “Safari Restaurant Jambo”, a sit down service type of
establishment, required a 40-minute wait to be seated.
My
visit was in late November. There were
already numerous Christmas decorations, especially in the areas near the
souvenir stores.
From
the closest train station, JR Shirahama station, you can catch a local bus to
Adventure World for about 210 yen. The
ride will take about 10 to 15 minutes, depending on traffic. (A taxi will run somewhere around 1500 yen.)
During the summer peak season when traffic jams are a common occurrence, the
ride can take much longer. Shirahama is
located so far from Osaka that a visit to Adventure World is hard to do as a
day trip. It is more relaxing to include
a stay at a local hotel or ryokan (Japanese Inn), which of course will increase
the total cost of an already pricey excursion.
(Note:
All photos in this post were taken during a visit on November 23 and 24, 2017. The comments in this post are based on
observations made at that time.
Conditions may have since changed.
Please check it out for yourself!)