Asa Zoo

A great zoo right here in Hiroshima city, with lots of interesting and fun animals to see. A recent edition of a petting zoo and children play park makes it an even better experience for kids.

The animals seem well taken care of and as happy as zoo animals can be. The park was opened in 1971 and is 25.6 hectares big, there are 160 animal species and 15 species of fish (approximately 1500 animals and 5000 fish). The main section of the park is 2.2km long and the Western section of the park (walking trail) is another 1.8km.

There is a nice playground and shaded area with picnic benches just left of the entrance gate up a slope. The first animals you see are the monkeys in the main enclosure in front of the gate and if you walk to the glass wall behind, you can engage in tug of war with the playful monkeys. If you turn right at the entrance, you can go into the zoo’s information floor where you can do activities to learn about animals and get more details about the park. If you head down the path to the right past the pink flamingo’s you will head down the hill past the zebras and giraffes in the largest enclosure. At the bottom of the hill you will find the popular elephant enclosure where feeding time always draws a crowd. This zoo is quite famous for its snake house and the petting area and pony rides are a highlight for most kids.

The park is quite widely spread out, so even when it is busy there is still plenty of space to walk around and view the animals.

• Adults ¥500
• Children (Elem-18yrs) ¥170
• Guides to the park are available by advance apointment.
• Discounts for groups of 30+
• Parking fee- ¥440 for cars, ¥1350 for buses and trucks.
• Strollers and umbrellas available for rent.
• Coin lockers available.
• Electric wheelchairs and manual wheelchairs are available for use free of charge.

Access

By Astram Monorail: Get off at (上安) Kami-Yasu (Chorakuji or Koiki-koen bound) and take a bus (Dobutsu-Koen Asahi-gaoka) or taxi up the hill to the Asa Zoo. (walk will probably take 30 min or more, taxi 10 minutes)

By bus: take the Asahi-gaoka bound bus from JR Hiroshima Station (No 9 gate of B platform) to Asa Zoo (60min).

By car drive along Route 54 / Gion-Shindo highway that follows along the Astram Line for about 20 minutes to Kamiyasu Station from the city center. From Hiroshima-Kita Interchange, Hiroshima Interchange, and Itsukaichi Interchange, it is also about a 20 minute drive.

Asa Zoo Official Website [japanese]

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