Spring 2025 Japan trip planning

So, in an amusing twist of fate, it looks like I will be going to Japan (likely) this year after all… just as a trip for work, not the two week recreational trip I was initially planning (though that is still absolutely in the works for 2026!). The timing hasn’t been pinpointed quite yet, but it will include a few free days, so that means I’m going to have to hit at least a couple of zoos. My wife who will be tagging along says Saitama Children’s Zoo is non-negotiable, which I’m very much fine with. I have various thoughts about what to do with a potential second day, but since my original trip is still going to happen next year, I figured the best way to check for priorities would be by asking this question:

Out of Ueno, Tama, and Zoorasia, do any of these zoos have any rare species on display where it’s particularly uncertain whether they’ll be alive in a year?

It’s a very morbid question, and of course one that it’s impossible to ever truly know, but it’s unfortunately also a very easy way to gauge priorities. Two separate US zoos that I would’ve been visiting next week have lost the star species that was drawing me to them within the past month or so since I committed to visiting them. If I can avoid having that happen in Japan, I’d very much like to. Specifically, I think these are my top species at each facility:

Ueno: Chinese pangolin, spectral tarsier, either(?) slow loris, Prince Demidoff’s bushbaby

Tama: Tasmanian devil, parma wallaby

Zoorasia: Proboscis monkey, red shanked douc, Tibetan macaque, woolly monkey, dhole, Goodfellow’s tree kangaroo, African fur seal

These aren’t all weighted equally, but there are at least a few that would make the decision for me on the spot. So if anyone knows off hand if any of these are down to just an elderly o
 
biggest_dreamer said:
Ueno: Chinese pangolin, spectral tarsier, either(?) slow loris, Prince Demidoff’s bushbaby

Tama: Tasmanian devil, parma wallaby

Zoorasia: Proboscis monkey, red shanked douc, Tibetan macaque, woolly monkey, dhole, Goodfellow’s tree kangaroo, African fur seal
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I don't know about Zoorasia, but the devils and wallabies at Tama aren't going anywhere soon (they have lots of parmas). At Ueno the tarsier is old, but the pangolin and bushbabies won't be disappearing.
 
biggest_dreamer said:
Two separate US zoos that I would’ve been visiting next week have lost the star species that was drawing me to them within the past month or so since I committed to visiting them.
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Forgive my curiosity, but I'd love to know which facilities these were and the attractions.

You are correct this is, sadly, a good way to narrow a decision!
 
JVM said:
Forgive my curiosity, but I'd love to know which facilities these were and the attractions.

You are correct this is, sadly, a good way to narrow a decision!
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Lehigh Valley Zoo for the fisher, and ZooAmerica for the American marten. Probably not the biggest draws for most people, but I had just made a list of all of the carnivorans kept in the US that I hadn’t seen. I realized I could easily knock two off the list during my already-planned trip that would be going through Pennsylvania, and then back-to-back tragedies struck. Oh well, not like the whole trip was hinging on them or anything.
 
biggest_dreamer said:
So, in an amusing twist of fate, it looks like I will be going to Japan (likely) this year after all… just as a trip for work, not the two week recreational trip I was initially planning (though that is still absolutely in the works for 2026!). The timing hasn’t been pinpointed quite yet, but it will include a few free days, so that means I’m going to have to hit at least a couple of zoos. My wife who will be tagging along says Saitama Children’s Zoo is non-negotiable, which I’m very much fine with. I have various thoughts about what to do with a potential second day, but since my original trip is still going to happen next year, I figured the best way to check for priorities would be by asking this question:

Out of Ueno, Tama, and Zoorasia, do any of these zoos have any rare species on display where it’s particularly uncertain whether they’ll be alive in a year?

It’s a very morbid question, and of course one that it’s impossible to ever truly know, but it’s unfortunately also a very easy way to gauge priorities. Two separate US zoos that I would’ve been visiting next week have lost the star species that was drawing me to them within the past month or so since I committed to visiting them. If I can avoid having that happen in Japan, I’d very much like to. Specifically, I think these are my top species at each facility:

Ueno: Chinese pangolin, spectral tarsier, either(?) slow loris, Prince Demidoff’s bushbaby

Tama: Tasmanian devil, parma wallaby

Zoorasia: Proboscis monkey, red shanked douc, Tibetan macaque, woolly monkey, dhole, Goodfellow’s tree kangaroo, African fur seal

These aren’t all weighted equally, but there are at least a few that would make the decision for me on the spot. So if anyone knows off hand if any of these are down to just an elderly o
Click to expand...

From my perspective as a collector of rare species, and considering the ease of access, I'd put Ueno first. Just for the tarsier, I think it's a priority visit. Plus, in the same building, you'll find a rare flying fox unique in the world, Demidoff's bushbabies, and several rare rodent species. Overall, I think the collection is the best of the three you mentioned. You can see it well in half a day if you go at a good pace and combine the visit with other things to do in the city.

Tama is good, but it requires a longer visit—practically the whole day—because it's large, and it also requires more travel time. The collection is good, although I prefer the one at Ueno, but that's a matter of personal opinions. You should decide if it's worth it. If you have the option to visit, it's a good option, but in my opinion, not if it means sacrificing Ueno.

Zoorasia is a more Western-style zoo. It's very pretty, more themed. The collection is good but not as good as the previous ones. It has some rarities, but they can be counted on one hand. I'd put it in third place. Also, in this case, it requires more travel time. You can see it well in half a day, and we combined it with the Nogeyama Zoo, which is small, with many horrible and outdated facilities, but with several rarities.
 
Really appreciate all the feedback. Funnily enough, I'd say that for me, Zoorasia has the most appealing roster of rarities, then Ueno, then Tama, but if the populations there all seem to be more or less stable, I think Ueno is looking like it should be my priority.
 
biggest_dreamer said:
Really appreciate all the feedback. Funnily enough, I'd say that for me, Zoorasia has the most appealing roster of rarities, then Ueno, then Tama, but if the populations there all seem to be more or less stable, I think Ueno is looking like it should be my priority.
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Please, note that everyone has their own opinion, and we may disagree. As a European, I find the Tama and Ueno collections much more interesting than the Zoorasia collection, simply because I've seen most of the Zoorasia animals in Europe. But for people from other regions, it may be the other way around.
 
aramacao said:
Please, note that everyone has their own opinion, and we may disagree. As a European, I find the Tama and Ueno collections much more interesting than the Zoorasia collection, simply because I've seen most of the Zoorasia animals in Europe. But for people from other regions, it may be the other way around.
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This is always a good point to remember. My main knowledge of Zoorasia is their primate rarities, such as Red-shanked Douc langur and Proboscis monkey, the former of which is one species I know is present in both Europe and there, but I wouldn't know which other species are in Europe and Zoorasia but not the US off my head.
 
Oh, for sure. I even started to highlight the caveat that Zoorasia has a handful of animals that wouldn’t be unfamiliar to Europeans such as the doucs, Goodfellow’s tree kangaroo, African fur seal, dhole, golden takin, and even the Eurasian otter, but are nearly nonexistent to Americans. It’s all a matter of perspective and priorities, and I would of course never expect everyone’s preferences to align with my own.
 
I might you to check out Zootierliste to get a good idea of the collections at each zoo. This Will help you clarify which zoo is most appealing to you. We can help you further with aspects such as transportation, the time required for the visit, whether the zoo has good or bad facilities, etc.
 
aramacao said:
I might you to check out Zootierliste to get a good idea of the collections at each zoo. This Will help you clarify which zoo is most appealing to you. We can help you further with aspects such as transportation, the time required for the visit, whether the zoo has good or bad facilities, etc.
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For the record, Zootierliste wasn't available outside of Europe when I initially made this thread, but I've been rechecking it fairly frequently to recalibrate my expectations. I think I've got a pretty good handle at this point on what exists within a few hours' transit of Tokyo.
 
If you're interested in fishes and/or marine invertebrates, Tokyo Sea Life Park is definitely worth a visit. There's several aquarium in Tokyo, but of those I've visited Tokyo Sea Life Park is, in my opinion, the far superior one.
 
aramacao said:
Tokyo Sea Life Park is undoubtedly the best aquarium in Tokyo. It's true that there are several excellent and even better ones relatively nearby (Oarai, Fukushima), but of Tokyo's aquariums, Tokyo Sea Life Park is the best.
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I really wanted to visit Aquamarine Fukushima, but it was quite a distance from anywhere I was staying, and while it would be possible to visit it as a day trip from Tokyo on the shinkansen, the shinkansen tickets are quite expensive and it was difficult to justify the price just to visit the aquarium.

Admittedly I'm not too familiar with Oarai Aquarium, do they have much of interest there?
 
Oarai's overall collection is one of the best I've seen during my two visits to Japan. However, it's the sharks that stand out the most, with literally dozens of species. A must-see for any rare species hunter.
 
Knowing just how many aquariums full of rare species are in Japan really makes me wish I like aquatics more than I do. I don't dislike them, I've just never been able to get the same level of enjoyment out of a rare fish as I have from seeing a ring-tailed lemur for the 800th time.

My Japan work trip seems to be looking different each time someone tells me about it, but it's currently looking to be two weeks in September. Maybe? Probably a long shot, but I wonder if any nearby facilities have long enough hours such that I might be able to visit on a workday...
 
I will officially be in Japan for work the second and third week of September. Not sure what the weekend before and after might mean for me, but I'll at least have one full, uninterrupted weekend there. Saitama Children's Zoo and Ueno are the priorities, should I be able to make both of them work.

I am going through and looking at smaller facilities near where I'll be staying and came across Sayama Fureai Zoo. Anyone familiar with this place? Zootierliste treats them like any other zoological facility, but the vibe I get from their Instagram is that they're an exotic pet store (possibly a false flag on ZTL because of the name?). What drew my attention to them was that ZTL claims they have Saharan striped polecat and common striped possum, but if they're a seller, I obviously wouldn't expect to see those particular species. Still, they're open until 7, meaning I could feasibly stop by after work to see if they have anything interesting? Alternatively, if anyone knows of any other interesting exotic pet stores in the Saitama-Tokyo area, I'd be interested in looking into them as well.
 
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