Nagano City Jōyama Zoo, Municipal zoo in Uematsu district, Nagano, Japan
Nagano City Jōyama Zoo occupies a corner of Jōyama Park in Uematsu, next to the former Nagano City Youth Science Center and the Nagano Prefectural Art Museum. Its compact grounds hold a monkey mountain, a sea lion pool, Humboldt penguins, flamingos and a walk-through squirrel forest. A steam-locomotive-style monorail, the Jōyama-gō, replaced the old monorail in March 2012.
The zoo opened on 20 August 1961 as Nagano City Zoo, after a playground was built for the Nagano Industrial Exposition held at Jōyama Park from 1 April to 21 May 1961. On 1 April 2006 the Nagano City Development Corporation became its designated manager. It marked its 50th anniversary in August 2011.
Japanese macaques live here in family groups that you can watch up close throughout the day. Seeing how they interact and move together gives insight into their daily lives and social bonds.
A bus from JR Nagano station reaches the Doubutsuen Shita stop in roughly 15 minutes. The grounds are easy to walk through and admission is free for all visitors.
In March 2012 the zoo replaced its old monorail with a steam-locomotive-shaped monorail called Jōyama-gō, which runs inside the park alongside a merry-go-round, Arabian carousel and battery cars. The zoo is free and draws nearly 300,000 visitors a year, and its main facility is the Chausuyama Zoo in Shinonoi.
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