A peacock roams free at Izu Shaboten Zoo in Ito, Japan. (Kelly Agee/Stars and Stripes)
Get to know some friendly animals on a day trip from Tokyo to a zoo full of friendly, exotic animals.
Donkeys, llamas and capybaras are among the 140 animals at Izu Shaboten Zoo, less than a three-hour drive from U.S. bases near the Japanese capital.
Founded in 1959, the zoo and botanical garden in Ito, a city on central Japan’s Izu Peninsula, is right next to Mount Omuro, a 1,900-foot-high cinder cone volcano.
A cabybara relaxes at Izu Shaboten Zoo in Ito, Japan. (Kelly Agee/Stars and Stripes)
The most notable exhibit is Capybara Rainbow, an enclosure where visitors can pay 200 yen, or about $1.40, to feed grass to them. The area is fenced much like a petting zoo and equipped with benches so guests can relax and wait for the capybaras to come to them. It was nice to relax among the capybaras, who are very well behaved, soft and adorable.
The capybara, typically twice the size of a beaver, is the world’s largest rodent. A native of northern and central South America, it’s a strong swimmer and adapted by evolution for a part-time aquatic life.
The zoo accommodates that by providing the Original Capybara Open-Air Bath, which is open every year from late November to early April.
Elsewhere on the grounds is a greenhouse with examples of more than 1,000 cactuses from Mexico, Madagascar, South America and Africa. Cactuses and succulents are sold at the cactus-hunting workshop at the greenhouse entrance, where visitors can pick their own pot and cactuses or succulent and take them home.
A meerkat poses at Izu Shaboten Zoo in Ito, Japan. (Kelly Agee/Stars and Stripes)
The zoo is alive with birds, rodents and monkeys. There is a bird enclosure in the park, which features ducks, pink flamingos, macaws, black swans and bicorn hornbills, a large Indo-Pacific bird that sports a yellow helmet.
I liked that the zoo doesn’t have tiny cages; the animals look well taken care of. Some walk freely in the parks, including squirrel monkeys and peacocks. Several peacocks spread their feathers on the trail, which made for amazing photos.
The zoo has several activities, including a boat tour around the monkey area. Guests can interact and feed lemurs.
Throughout the day, the zoo puts on animal shows featuring dogs, parrots and monkeys. Showtimes are posted outside the venue.
Pelicans socialize at Izu Shaboten Zoo in Ito, Japan. (Kelly Agee/Stars and Stripes)
Guests can also bring their pets if they are on a leash; they are prohibited in the free-roaming areas.
The zoo has several restaurants and a gift shop where guests can buy souvenirs.
The main restaurant is Gibbontei, also called the Forest Animal Restaurant. Try animal-themed dishes, including a capybara-shaped hamburger with a side salad and chips for 1,480 yen and duck omuhayashi, or rice omelet, shaped like a duck’s face for 1,500 yen.
On the QT
Directions: 1317-13 Futo, Ito, Shizuoka, 413-0231; less than 3 hours drive from all U.S. bases in the Tokyo area.
Times: Open daily, 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Costs: Weekday admission is 2,700 yen, or about $18.80; 1,300 yen for elementary school students; 700 yen for infants. Expect to pay a bit more on holidays.
Food: An onsite eatery, Gibbontei, serves various animal-shaped dishes.
Information: Online: izushaboten.com
