The subject of zoos is one that can be extremely divisive at times. Many are critical of them for turning animals into a sideshow rather than being free to live their lives naturally in the wild. Putting animals in cages takes away the dignity according to some but there is of course a reason zoos exist. That is because they are popular and do give people the chance to see and learn about the animals. I can see it from both points of view and very much sit on the fence when it comes to deciding which camp I’m in!

Many Japanese zoos are managed by their local governments which means they are very affordable if not just down right cheap! However, the one which we went to at the start of the year cost 4-5 times more than that. It was somewhere I’d been aware of for a long time but was always put off by the price. This time, without much else going on, we decided to bite the bullet and try it out.

The zoo in question was Izu Shaboten Zoo in Shizuoka Prefecture, and it is located across the road from the stunning conical-shaped Mount Omuro which we’ve visited a few times over the years. Having first taken the chairlift up the mountain our ticket gave us a 200 yen discount on the zoo entrance thereby taking it down to just 2600 ($17) per person!

Around 50 different types of animals are present at this zoo with the focus being on the small to medium sized ones so there are no elephants, giraffes, lions or tigers on show although it seems that may change in the future. Meerkats and pygmy goats were the first animals we encountered with a couple of the latter having climbed up on to one of the cages. Maybe they just wanted to look down on us visitors!

One of the things that I was most interested in seeing was the capybara onsen, and it didn’t take too long at all to encounter this attraction.

This was our first time to get up close to these super-cute huge rodents since we went to a capybara cafe in Kanagawa a few years ago. Whilst it wasn’t as intimate this time we did get to see them relaxing in a hot spring bath.

When they weren’t soaking in the baths they were just freely roaming around the enclosed area or chilling in the gravel-sand garden of sorts.

It’s not just the animals which are the attraction at this zoo has something of a Mexican theme. Not only is there shaboten (cactus) in the name of the zoo but there are various other exhibits relating to the Aztec and Mayan civilisations including a giant stone sundial and massive head statue.

One big plus point for us going to this zoo was that dogs are allowed to enter (as long as they’re in some kind of carry-case or bag) which is very rare in Japan. Our dog was curious at the sight (and definitely the smells!) of some animals like llamas, tapirs, porcupines, prairie dogs and so on.

It should go without saying that with a name like Tokyo Fox I’d be interested to see the fennec foxes. My wife thinks they’re slightly similar in appearance and mannerisms to our chihuahua but I’m still not so sure!

The bird paradise section was more interesting than I expected and it was lovely to see the various cranes, flamingoes and terns in as fairly a natural habitat as you can get in a zoo!

People don’t tend to go to zoos to see domestic animals but one of my highlights was seeing this absolutely massive rabbit.

This giant monster is a kaiju (monster) from Ultraman which can just about be seen from the top of the mountain over the road, and is actually what brought this zoo to my attention many years ago when I saw something about it in a Japanese magazine.

It was a fairly lengthy wait to see Meixiang the red panda’s face but well worth it. I think I  actually prefer these to the more famous panda bears. They may not be closely related but (feel free to accuse me of being woke!) in Japan these these wonderful animals are known as the lesser panda which does seem a bit degrading.

There was just enough time to see the chimpanzee island, and though it (they? I could only see one!) had a ot of space it did seem quite lonely. Rather that though than having a load of us visitors watching it in a more cramped space.

There was way more going on at this zoo than I’ve mentioned in this post such as workshops, greenhouses, feeding sessions, shows, photo opportunities, tool exhibits, rocks, food vendors, restaurants, souvenir shops and the cactus plants which give the park its name. We didn’t get round it all but we left immensely satisfied with our experience at this fairly unique and hugely popular zoo.

Click here to read ‘Chillaxing At This Capybara Cafe Just Outside Of Tokyo’

Click here to read ‘On The Fox Trail……At A Tokyo Hedgehog Cafe!’

Click here to read ‘Our Owl Cafe Experience Was A Right Hoot!’

Click here to read ‘Mimi Rabbit Cafe In Ikebukuro’