Nagoya Higashiyama Zoo and Botanical Gardens

So much excitement! Teddy can't handle it.

Today, I took my children to the zoo. The "Nagoya Higashiyama Zoo and Botanical Gardens" in fact.

It is a great place to take your children. There is lots to see and do. We took the subway all the way there. There is a "Food Trek" right outside the main entrance to the zoo, which is where we stopped and picked up some rolls, chips, and drinks for lunch at the zoo. Then we cross the street and buy our tickets. You don't have to buy tickets for anyone under junior high, so I just paid for my ticket and my 3 kids were free.

Leah, displaying her healthy respect for the rhinoceros.

Who wants Mango Orange IceCream?

The first animal we came to were red-eared slider turtles in the ponds on either side of the path. We found a table in the shade and ate our lunch. There were lots of preschool groups at the zoo. The preschool groups all wear different colored, matching hats, some also have vests or the entire outfit matches. Lots of moms went along with their children's preschool group. They then broke up into smaller groups for lunch, each mom feeding her own children. Most brought lunch from home.

Next we saw the elephants that were next to the eating area. They have two elephant areas, one for the Asian elephants and one for the African elephants. It was the Asian elephant exhibit that we went to first. They have a baby elephant right now, not a newborn, a yearling maybe. I can't read Japanese yet so I couldn't find out how old the baby was.

The Leah stalks her prey from the shadows

So then we were on the walk around the zoo routine, going from animal exhibit to animal exhibit. The ones that I found cute were the Emus. They also have baby emus and they are funny little things. They are black and white striped replicas of their parents. Emus are strange creatures, giant birds that can't fly, walking about in a bobbing motion, quite humorous in infant form.


If your going to the zoo, bring a trash bag. There are no trash cans at this zoo and you are expected to take all your trash with you. In this way, it's much like a camping trip in the states... only without the tent... or the fire.

Tiny Baby Emus!

The strange thing about the zoo is that its very nice, but it has a strange worn out feeling to it. There is quite a bit of rust on things and nothing looks "new". I don't know how old this zoo is. People became very sparse after we got a ways from the preschool groups. I think it might have been an off day or most people come at 9am when it opens and leave around noon when it becomes to hot to walk around. We didn't get there until 11:30 and left at 4pm. Its nice to not be wading through crowds at any rate. It's hard to describe, things were sun bleached, but looked like they were expensive when they were new. It felt rather large, and empty, and neglected, and faintly sad.

Several buildings in the background, give you an idea of the atmosphere.

We stopped at the "petting zoo" part and were able to pet some goats and guinea pigs. They had bunnies, miniature horses, a cow, and pigs, but you couldn't get close enough to touch them. The girls enjoyed getting to hold the guinea pigs. They had guinea pigs before we left the US. We headed out after that, stopping by the animals that we didn't see on the way in.

There is a lake that you can ride paddle boats around on. Leah wanted to, but I didn't want to pay for one, nor did I want to paddle my 3 children around a little lake. They did have lots of fun looking boats though.
There is also a "ride" area with a Ferris Wheel and other rides, you pay for each individual ride. There are little machines at each ride that you put your money into to get your ticket for that ride. We didn't go on anything; I don't care for carnival rides.

Paddle boats, in a variety of novelty skins.

Bridges are fascinating

We didn't make it to the botanical garden part. It was at the far end from the entrance we came in by and I was ready to leave and head back instead of going through the garden. I do hope to get there some time before we leave Japan.

It was a great trip and the children all had a blast. Everyone fell asleep early... :)