A must-visit in the Izu Kogen area! The park feels like Animal Crossing in real life—with animals casually roaming around and plenty of chances to feed and interact with them. You can pet, observe, and just hang out with all kinds of animals. And yes, the capybaras really are as chill as the internet says. Come see for yourself!
A very good place to visit. You definitely won’t see any big animals like tigers or elephants in this zoo,but there are lots of cute animals that you can interact with. The capybaras were definitely the crowd favorite! I really loved this little zoo. You can feed the animals for 200 yen each and you can cover this zoo in about 2-4 hours. I didn’t like how the owls were tied up though. They had no place to fly and stretch their wings. The birds in bird paradise were in a big habitat however. Overall,it is such a fun zoo to see and I recommend it for family.
During my trip to Japan, I went to this zoo twice and it was a pleasant experience both times. I loved getting to see/pet the capybaras and various other small creatures. It's clear that the zoo doesn't have a lot of funds to house larger animals and it shows on the enclosures that are available. Some of which were clearly undersized and possibly harmful to their inhabitants. Of which, the most concerning being the owls who are all tied to posts in various parts of the park. I was also surprised that they allow dogs (non-service/ESA) into the park and was worried about how this might stress some of the animals even even with some areas not allowing dogs.
Many of the enclosures have little spots to feed the animals and I thought this was nice. Offloading some of the cost to feed these animals on the visitors, but I also worried that they would possibly be overfed. However, on my second visit to the zoo, I got to watch two of the zookeeper's attempting to weigh a couple of anteaters, which was very cute. Clearly making sure the animals are a healthy weight.
I would highly suggest going through their cactus gardens which was surprisingly the highlight of the park. Housing some absolutely stunning saguaro cacti and featuring plants from three different continents. Connected together on a winding path through greenhouses and animal habitats.
I would go back again but I cannot give the zoo 5 stars due to the poor conditions of some animal enclosures.
Highly unusual zoo with loads of birds, small mammals, even monkeys, allowed to roam freely. Expect to see peacocks, emus, and even kangaroos walk right past the guests or even beg for food.
There are feed stations at most exhibits where you pay 200 or 300 yen and get a small amount of food to give to the animals - sometimes by hand! Most of the animals are well trained by this point and will immediately know what to expect as soon as you open the food box. Some of the free-roaming ones will even chase and follow a guest they see interact with the stations.
There's a boat ride and a bird section where you can pet flamingos. There's a petting house with hamsters, giant rabbits, and even red pandas. There's a parrot section and a penguin exhibit where you can feed them live fish. And then of course the famous capybara onsen.
There is also what they call the "animal show" exhibit. Several times a day, there are for entertainment animal-based performances, often involving the guests, available at no extra fee. One show has them race hamsters while another has guests picked out of the audience compete against the animals in contests of agility. Children can participate so this is excellent for families.
There are no marine animals, large animals, or predators at this zoo so it's a very particular selection, but the animal interaction is outstanding. I highly recommend it to any animal lover.
I recently visited Izu Shaboten Zoo, mainly to see the capybaras, and it was a wonderful experience especially for kids! The zoo is very clean and well-maintained, making it a great place for families with children. The animals are well cared for, and the environment feels natural and welcoming.
However, as a foreign visitor, I found it a bit challenging to fully enjoy some aspects of the experience. The animal shows were entirely in Japanese, which made it difficult to understand, and the process of downloading photos from the official website was not very foreigner-friendly. It would be even better if there were more language support options available.
Overall, I still had a great time and would recommend this zoo, especially for those who love capybaras! I hope to visit again in the future.
