Ueno Zoo
Founded in 1882, Ueno Zoo is Japan’s oldest zoo and home to 3,000 animals and 400 different species. It is divided into an East Garden and West Garden, and you can travel between them on foot or by monorail.
The biggest celebrities at the zoo are the giant pandas, Ri Ri and Shin Shin, along with their cub, Xiang Xiang. They are kept in a special section right by the zoo’s main entrance in the East Garden and there is always a long queue of visitors waiting to see them and take photos.
Aside from the pandas, the East Garden also features the “Gorilla Woods” and “Tiger Forest”, where you can view them in special enclosures, along with a variety of native Japanese animals and birds.
As for the West Garden, it is home to numerous African animals with a mammal house for nocturnal animals and a vivarium that showcases a variety of rare fishes, crocodiles, snakes, and turtles. There is also a children’s zoo so where young children can interact with guinea pigs, rabbits, goats, and other domestic animals.
Ueno Zoo, 9-83 Uenokoen, Taito City, Tokyo 110-8711, Japan | (+81) (03) 3828 5171