Ueno Zoological Gardens

The Ueno Zoo is an affordable, must-see destination if you're visiting Tokyo. For someone like me that comes from a medium-sized (~100,000) town, this zoo felt quite large and well-varied. The grounds were immaculate and all of the animals seemed very well cared for, which is always wonderful to see. The two exhibits that ended up being my favorites were the penguins, which were very active and a blast to watch, alongside the gorillas, that are incredible to see in person.

Ueno Zoo in Tokyo is a delightful place to explore. Entry is only 600 JPY, making it an affordable outing.

It’s Japan’s oldest zoo, and its commitment to conservation makes it a must-visit.

Giant Pandas: These iconic black-and-white bears steal the show. Their bamboo-munching habits and playful antics are a must-see. Don’t miss the chance to witness these gentle giants up close. 🐼🎋

Waited for about 40 minutes to see the panda up close.

Plan for a 2-3 hour visit and enjoy this educational and fun experience! 🦁🐼🦒

I wander into zoos everywhere around the world that I go, and this was one of the more interesting ones for sure - mostly because they had a really wide variety of animals and is part of the beautiful Ueno Park.

It’s true that some of the enclosures can be improved, but you can tell that the keepers care a lot for the animals. They truly do their best to ensure a positive experience for the animals.

Great to see some education, conservation and rehabilitation work going on here for animals that would otherwise not have made it in the wild due to injury.

I thoroughly enjoyed watching a hippopotamus up close for the first time, meeting a Hokkaido brown bear, prairie dog, gorilla and aardvark for the first time cos I’ve never seen them in real life before, and the absolute best surprise was that they had not one, but two Pallas Cats - and they were ADORABLE.

For the 600 yen entry ticket, it was a fantastic day out in Tokyo that I thoroughly enjoyed. Would definitely go back again.

-You can tell the keepers care about the animals and the zoo. All exhibits were extremely clean and the vivariums were decorated with an artistic style reminiscent of Japanese gardens and bonsai cultivation. -They are also actively assisting in conservation efforts.
** Plan your trip/ route ** Some exhibits start closing (ie. moving animals indoors for care and feeding) prior to the actual zoo closing time.
-The food is great - the panda dumpling bun was cute and delicious.
-There is also a 350 year old ceremonial tea house ** Cherry blossoms are starting to bloom!

I went on a national holiday, sports day even though many people had a holiday it was not crowded. The price of admission is very reasonable I believe for a senior ticket I paid $2 which is for what you get outstanding value I would highly recommend this zoo. There seems to be a lot of things set up for children. The park is well laid out in easy to walk most areas are hard type surfaces so for folks that are mobility impaired with wheelchairs it's an easily accessed facility.

Visited on a weekday so the line was not that bad. But still people started coming before noon.

The line for the Panda viewing was too long. So better line their first if you want to see it.
Take your patience with you . Hehe

I don’t find this zoo too big but it is good enough to see some animals.

THE BEST ZOO IVE EVER BEEN TO. With its ticket price (600yen), it is extremely top tier. The line to see pandas was really long and the pandas were sleeping. But the rest of the zoo is phenomenal. Staff is kind, animals look good. I love it and will definitely return.

I was impressed with this sprawling zoo. There were throngs of people there the weekend that I visited but the park-like setting is spacious and well-planned so the animal exhibits were easy to see. The animals seemed cared for and content. There were ample, clean restrooms and innumerable places to eat. The autumn colors in the trees were vibrant.

I enjoy going to zoo and I dare say that I have a world class zoo back home so I had expectations and Ueno zoo met it with the variety of animals they have. Although the enclosures don’t look as natural like some places are, they allow us to take photos close up.

I like how they try to allow everyone to enjoy the twin pandas by having a 1-min x 2 allocation for photo taking.

It was being able to enjoy the zoo, night safari and bird paradise all for 600 yen!

Amazing zoo! The animals are playful and engaged. Kids had a blast. Thank you Tokyo for a fantastic day!

There aren’t any shows but they have cool little activities like Guinea Pig handling sessions. We didn’t get to sign up cos this have to be registered for online via a QR code. Would be good to check that out cos it looked super fun peering in from the windows.

Got a variety of animals and amenities, very chill without too much crowd. The waiting for panda viewing could be quite long, and it is definitely not worth it as they were just sleeping lying down, often far away. You might be lucky to see them active though.

LOVED IT! Awesome zoo with great enclosures and well cared for animals. We loved every minute of our time here. Seeing the pandas was amazing and a real treat. Definitely and must see in Tokyo.

Closing time is 5pm but last hours to get ticket is 4pm.
We entered the zoom at 4pm and most of the animals like tiger, gorillas and twin baby panda were not in the cage due to cleaning time of the cage. 😞

But we walk around the Zoo area. Clean, calm and relaxing.

𝗟𝗔𝗟𝗜𝗦𝗔 | 𝘔𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘭 ‧ 𝘈𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘤 ‧ 𝘗𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘴

Instagram: @lalisa_doniho
Links: http://linktr.ee/lalisa.doniho
__

Many different animals, in outdoor settings and cages. There is a long queue to see the panda. You can find souvenir shops, and snack/food tenants here. The park view is quite nice.

I hadn’t been to a zoo in quite some time, but this place caught my eye due to the incredible selection of animals and proximity to good food.

What an amazing place - we spent four hours here and that time went by in the blink of an eye. No matter what kind of animals you want to see, this place will have it. I’m partial to monkeys and birds, and had an extraordinary variety of exhibits to choose from. Special shoutout to the white-mantled black colobuses, which had such cute babies and were so active and exciting to watch. The spider monkeys were less popular with the crowds but equally cool, swinging around with their prehensile tails and enrapturing my partner and I with their grace and beauty. I left the zoo with a new appreciation for the animal kingdom and I can’t praise this place enough. Go early to make sure you see everything!

Adorable. Make sure to get there very early so you don’t have to wait too long to see the panda cubs. It was amazing seeing animals in real like that you don’t have the opportunity to see when you live in the states. Would 100% come back.

Very cool maze like zoo with a ton of different exhibits. The park is large and has many things to offer for kids, adults and families. The gorillas were sadly unavailable but the other exhibits were still satisfying. Loved the elephants and giraffes. The food was fair priced.

One of the best zoos I have been to, remarkably clean and massive. The ticket price (as a tourist) amounts to almost nothing when compared to zoos in UK.

It has a massive selection of adorable animals - from big (panda, polar bear, elephants), mid size (owls, penguins), to small (prairie, Pallas cat)

The zoo also has a couple of options to eat/dine - you can easily spend a whole day here

Twin panda cubs, kangaroos, and a bunch of other animals I’ve never seen before. Get here early (20 min before opening) and buy your tickets in advance if you don’t want to wait for a while to see the pandas. But even so, it moves swiftly with Japanese efficiency.

Really lovely zoo. Had a fantastic time walking around, it was very busy but we were still able to see everything. Just had to queue for a look at the pandas.