Ueno Zoo, Zoo in Ueno Park, Tokyo, Japan
Ueno Zoo is a 14.3-hectare zoological garden in Ueno Park, Tokyo, divided into East and West sections linked by the Aesop Bridge. It houses more than 2,600 animals of over 500 species, including Sumatran tigers and western lowland gorillas. The East Garden holds the main gate, a 1931 monkey hill, and a 17th-century five-story pagoda; the West Garden has the panda house and a pond.
The garden opened in 1882 as the first zoological facility in Japan, growing from a small menagerie linked to the National Museum of Natural History. It expanded over the decades from a modest collection into a large institution focused on conservation and education.
Japanese visitors often bring children to see the Japanese serow and Hokkaido brown bears, animals they rarely encounter in their everyday lives. These native species occupy enclosures designed to reflect their mountain habitats across the Japanese islands.
The main entrance sits close to Ueno Station, and the grounds usually open from half past nine in the morning until five in the afternoon. Visitors with limited mobility can access most areas through accessible pathways and facilities throughout the site.
The zoo's giant pandas left in January 2026, ending a presence that began with Kang Kang and Lan Lan in 1972 and made the zoo the first in Japan to breed the species by artificial insemination in 1985. The panda topiary on a dark stone wall near the gate, with its foliage body and dark eye patches, remains a photo spot.
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