Ueno Zoo

After continuous days wandering between skyscrapers and malls’ districts, the desire can appear to take some fresh air and see something else for half a day. This goal in mind, Ueno Zoo appears as a perfect alternative, thanks to its pandas, stars of the neighborhood and represented everywhere as soon as you arrive at the train 🚅 station.

Located in the heart of Ueno Park, the zoo is the reference for a family outing in this area. And even if you are no longer a child, you can still be amazed in front of cute animals, by looking at the tiger’s big claws or the size of the gorilla's paws!

No more China-leased giant pandas at Ueno

But the true celebrities here are the 2 giant pandas, symbols of friendship with China. Ueno Zoo was home to:

• Ri Ri and Shin Shin, arrived in 2011, then,
• A baby, Xiang Xiang, was born in 2017. It was introduced to the public for the first time on December 19 the same year. The wait was so intense that a lottery was set up to determine those who would be able to meet it. In March 2018, 9,500 tickets were being sold everyday to come see baby Xiang Xiang and it is advised to arrive well before the morning opening hour to enjoy your visit... and also to be patient!
• In 2021, the zoo welcomed the birth of the twins Lei Lei et Xiao Xiao. However, on January 27, 2026, due to a diplomatic rift between China and Japan on Taiwan’s situation, these pandas are returned in China. Consequently, there is no panda anymore in Tokyo.

Anyway, they were so loved that it was not unusual to have a long waiting line to see them, and mostly, the audience couldn't stop and stare at their enclosure: the line had to keep moving. Many people came for the animals that did not seem to care at all. You might even just see a small black and white piece of fur in the background of the cage.

The zoo is fully integrated in Ueno Park, one of Tokyo's most popular attractions, which can easily make you busy for hours as it is quite huge and get very crowded when the cherry blossom season reaches its peak. A lot of species are waiting for you there. A tiger, a lion and its lionesses, a polar bear, gorillas and even penguins for the rarest, not to mention many other ones: more than 450 types of animals live there year-round. However, their environment is often criticized; with living spaces too narrow and a hardly bearable heat in summer.

The suspended monorail 🚝 which crosses the zoo dates back to 1958. It was replaced by a bus in 2019 and definitely closed in 2023.