Hi,
Very nice to hear about your interest in Japanese zoos. At the very end of 2022, I went on my own trip and visited dozens of Japanese facilities, including the three places you mentioned. The choice between Tama and Ueno is indeed quite difficult. Both parks have a nice collection, like these species (at least when I was there):
- Tama: Japanese giant flying squirrel, Crested honey buzzard, Japanese golden eagle, three different kinds of local hares, Japanese moles and shrews, Japanese weasel, yellow-footed rock wallaby (a rare subspecies that is not kept outside of Japan and Australia), and the biggest collection of grasshoppers that I ever saw.
- Ueno: Yezo sika deer, lidth's jay, Svalbard rock ptarmigan (not as beautiful in summer tho), great slaty woodpecker (only one in captivity if still alive), ruddy kingfisher, Prince Demidoff's bushbaby, tarsier, Leschenault's rousette, mountain hawk-eagle, shoebill, and a nice collection of local birds and herps.
The Sunshine Aquarium is not impressive. It's very focused upon tourists, is always crowded and it is rather small. Most interesting species here include the Naru eagle rays (only described in 2013) and the mormyrid tank. If you like the weird elephant-nosed family of mormyrids, this is a nice place. Along with Aquarium de la Porte Dorée in France, it's the biggest collection I have ever seen. The species are not signed though.
May I suggest combining Sunshine with Inokashira Park Zoo like I did? That park holds several nice local species like the Japanese marten, Japanese giant flying squirrel, Japanese night heron, Yakushima sika deer, Japanese badger, Japanese serow, etc.
If you were to sneak that small place into the list, it might be worth more to visit Ueno than Tama. Ueno has a more exotic collection (while Tama is more local) and several local species you will already have seen at Inokashira Park Zoo.
- I don't know your options, but from Tokyo, the train can be taken towards Fukushima. There you can find the Aquamarine Fukushima Aquarium, alongside Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium this is the best deep sea aquarium in the world.
- Slightly closer but still far away is Aqua World Ibaraki Oarai Aquarium, which holds the largest collection of shark species in the world. Right now, they have 48 species on show.
- The greatest aquarium within Tokyo itself is the Tokyo Sea Life Park. It holds a big collection, including rare local species like wrought-iron butterflyfish, big tunas, little penguins, old woman angelfish and species from the seas of South America (which is unique in the aquarium world).
- Maxell Aqua Park Shinagawa holds the only dwarf sawfish in the world.
The brushtail possum that Possumroach is talking about is a common species in captivity in Europe and Australia. But if you want to see those, you should definitely act on it. They are adorable!
