A red panda walks along the tree branches in its enclosure in Nogeyama Zoo. Nogeyama is a nice little zoo, but this cute little critter is easily the star attraction.
In the hills of Yokohama, not terribly far from the skyscrapers, shopping malls, and night life of Sakuraigicho and Kannai, there is a large hilltop park in a quiet neighborhood called Nogeyama. Large parks in Yokohama are not all that unusual, but the largest feature of Nogeyama Park, by far, is the small, but surprisingly well laid out zoo. Nogeyama Zoological Gardens is a beautiful little zoo with nearly 100 different animal species and an interactive petting zoo for small children. And best of all, it is all free, financially supported by the city of Yokohama and the Japanese Association of Zoos and Aquariums (JAZA).
A chimpanzee sits in an enclosure at Nogeyama Zoo. With some of the chimps and large primates moving to Zoorasia, the previously slightly cramped ape enclosures have been combined into one spacious home for the few remaining chimpanzees.
A penguin at the Nogeyama Zoo
Prior to the Meiji Restoration, Nogeyama (yama being Japanese for hill or mountain) and the area surrounding it were mostly empty forest land with the exception of a small stretch of the Tokaido Road that passed nearby. Once Commodore Perry’s arrival in Tokyo Bay forced Japan to open the port of Yokohama to foreign trade, a foreign settlement was established in the hills and areas surrounding Yokohama including Nogeyama which became Nogei Village. As foreign trade poured in and the port grew, a shipyard was built, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries was established, and one of Japan’s first train lines, including the original Sakuraigicho train Station, was built, causing Nogei to grow rapidly. In 1859, the Japanese businessmen and foreign merchants who had moved into the area established a park on the nearby hilltop that the district was named for, creating Nogeyama Park. In the following years, the park was home to several gardens of different styles and served as an evacuation site during the 1923 Great Kanto earthquake – resulting in the park being officially named a city evacuation site in 1926. After WWII, the U.S. Army briefly took control of the area and in 1949, the Japan Foreign Trade Fair was held on the grounds. Finally, in April of 1951, the Nogeyama Zoo was established.
A portrait of a penguin. I don’t know why, but I really like penguins.
A penguin swims in the pool in the penguin enclosure at Nogeyama Zoo.
Since the 1951, the Nogeyama Zoo has served an important role in the research and breeding of rare and endangered species and has been the first Japanese zoo to successfully house a number of species, such as leopards, caracals, clouded leopards, ring-tailed lemurs, gibbons, and numerous other animals. In 1972, they became only the second zoo to successfully breed Andean condors and until recently, the zoo also had a strong breeding program for polar bears. Most recently, in 2016 they successfully bred ploughshare tortoises, a critically endangered species from Madagascar. This is in addition to the regular displays of numerous other animals, like lions, tigers, bears, ostriches, zebras, and other common zoo animals. By far their most popular attraction, however, are their red pandas. These adorable animals live in a small building with a large, open outdoor play area with great visibility, with the railings and moat keeping visitors just outside of arms reach of the animals. This makes them very easy to see and photograph. Even I couldn’t resist snapping a few shots. In recent years, a number of animals have been relocated to the larger and newer Yokohama city Zoo Zoorasia (1999), including Nogeyama’s polar bears. There was a proposal to move all of Nogeyama’s animals to Zoorasia and close the aging park, but this was met with strong public resistance and Nogeyama was left mostly intact. Today, the former polar bear enclosure is drained and open for visitors to enter and view how the bears lived when they were in the park.
A tiger rests in the outdoor cage area of the big cat enclosure in the Nogeyama zoo
A red panda strolls through its zoo habitat.
Nogeyama Zoo is a beautiful park with a lot to offer, especially for being free to enter. It is fairly easy to get to, being a 15 minute walk from Sakuraigicho or 10 minutes from Hinodecho Station on the Keikyu rail line. Being so close to these stations also puts it near the shopping and nightlife of the Minato-mirai district of Yokohama and a number of other historic sites and attractions in the heart of Yokohama. So if you find yourself in Yokohama and want a peaceful afternoon at the zoo, or you are looking for a way to entertain your children, Nogeyama Zoo is definitely worth checking out.
An eagle rests on a pole in an enclosure at Nogeyama Zoo.
A red panda at Nogeyama Zoo in Yokohama.