Inokashira Park Zoo, in the Tokyo area, is a really nice family-friendly zoo with a number of Japanese native species in it. We were especially excited to see tanuki (racoon-dog is the common English translation), the tiny local squirrels we had seen at a distance at the Daibutsu, and beautiful cranes and ducks.


We also learned about the leopard cat, which crossed over the ice to come to one of the islands, and the serow, an ungulate (think antelope) from northern Honshu. Both were super fuzzy and completely new to us!

If you get a chance, this zoo is worth a stop… and foreign passport holders get a discount on admission!