zoo

Three generations of family went to Tohoku Safari Park! [Nihonmatsu City, Fukushima Prefecture]

Three generations of my family visited Tohoku Safari Park in Fukushima Prefecture.
In this article, we'll introduce the highlights of the park.

What is Tohoku Safari Park?

Tohoku Safari Park is a zoo located in Nihonmatsu City, Fukushima Prefecture.
It covers an area of ​​1.5 million square meters.
In addition to the Free-Roam Area where lions, giraffes, elephants, deer, zebras, and more Relaxation Area " where sheep and camels are kept, a " Reptile House " where crocodiles and snakes are kept, and a " Pleasure Area " where monkeys and guinea pigs are kept.

Furthermore, Ebisu Circuit is located next door, and loud noises can be heard from time to time in areas close to the circuit.
The author did not find the noise bothersome, but I think it is a unique feature not found in many other zoos, so I thought I'd mention it.

As a child, I have visited Fukushima Prefecture many times, as my father (deceased) was born in Fukushima City. However, this summer, I visited Fukushima for the first time with my mother, wife, and three daughters, bringing together three generations of my family.
Furthermore, except for my wife, none of us have ever been to Tohoku Safari Park, let alone a safari park in general, so we thought we would take this opportunity to visit.

<Information>Tohoku Safari Park

Google Map

We recommend renting a safari car when entering the free-range area

Tohoku Safari Park can also be reached in about 20 minutes by taking a Fukushima Kotsu bus bound for Shiozawa Onsen from the
Nihonmatsu Station Entrance However, there are only four buses per day (note that the schedule varies greatly between weekdays and holidays), so most people will likely drive themselves to get there.
If you're accessing by car, it's about a 15-minute drive from Nihonmatsu IC on the Tohoku Expressway.

Tohoku Safari Park entrance ( from Fukushima Tourism Information Site

At the entrance, you can pay the admission fee without getting out of your car and then drive right in.
I used the same-day rate, but there are also discounted advance tickets available, so please take advantage of this.

tohoku-safaripark.co.jp
Price Guide | Tohoku Safari Park - A huge gathering of animals from all over the world!
http://tohoku-safaripark.co.jp/price
It's so impressive! Get up close and personal with the animals! See, touch, and feel the lives of animals living according to their wild instincts at a distance you wouldn't normally experience

When you enter the zoo, the first thing you should do is go to the free-range area
.

  • Enter in the car you came in
  • Enter with Safari Rental Car
  • Take the park bus

There are three ways to get in.
Of course, if you use a safari rental car or the park bus, you will have to pay an additional fee.
However, the park's official website clearly states that

*We do not cover any damage caused to your vehicle by animals.
*Please note that scratches on your vehicle and damage to side mirrors and door visors may occur.
*We recommend using a safari rental car when entering the park.

I would never recommend entering in your own car or a rental car rented from another place .
" some safari rental cars did not have side mirrors ," I think it will be clear enough that I don't recommend it
(even for cars with side mirrors, you will be asked to fold them when entering the free-range area).
So my family got into a zebra-print safari rental car.

When you enter the free-roaming area, you first pass through the area where the lions are roaming free.
In this area, it is not only prohibited to leave the car, but it is
also prohibited to stop the car as it is dangerous The lions were relaxing and we hardly saw them moving, but this may be just how lions are.

Once you leave the lion area, you enter the herbivore area.
Here, you can open the car window and feed the animals.
The animals know that when a car approaches, they will get food, so they come towards the car one after another.
They bang their noses and horns against the side of the car window...even though they are herbivores, they are not at all "herbivorous."

Herbivores approaching the car (photographed by the author; all subsequent photos were taken by the author or accompanying persons)

Some animals drool on the windows, making them quite dirty , so you'll definitely regret entering in your own car.
With such aggressive animals, it seems like your car might get surrounded by them and you won't be able to move, but strangely enough, the animals don't stand in front of your car for long.
Perhaps they know in their own way that it's dangerous to stand in front of your car.

The elephants are kept in a fenced area, so you can't get close by car, but when we threw food onto the ground in front of the fence, the elephants skillfully used their trunks to pick up the food and eat it.
Even the adults were impressed.

My third daughter, who is two years old, was afraid of the unruly animals and didn't try to feed them, but my oldest daughter (second grade) and youngest daughter (four years old) were happy to throw food everywhere, so we ended up running out of food. There was a
sort of intermediate gate set up in a convenient location where we could buy more food.
The price was half the price of buying it at the entrance, which was an excellent price.
Of course, we ended up buying some.

The attraction area offers different shows every day

After the free-roaming area, we went to the attraction area.
Here, animal shows are held.
The content changes depending on the day, and on the day we visited, there was a seal show and a monkey performance.

Interaction Square

Next, we visited the petting zoo,
where you can touch and feed rabbits, guinea pigs, ring-tailed lemurs, and more.
My oldest daughter especially seemed to enjoy it.

Kitakata ramen at a restaurant

There is a restaurant located almost in the center of the safari park.
It has a slightly Showa-era feel to it.
It is not expensive and bad-tasting like the typical leisure facilities, and the food is reasonably priced.
Since we had come all the way to Fukushima Prefecture, my wife and I decided to try Kitakata ramen.

There is also a souvenir shop on the premises, and each of my three daughters bought a stuffed animal that they liked

Parrots making a fuss in the reptile house

We passed through the "Walking Area" where red pandas, white tigers, and lions are kept, and the "Relaxation Square" where sheep and Bactrian camels are kept, and finally visited the Reptile House

Python shedding its skin

Inside the museum, a large python was in the middle of shedding its skin.
My eldest daughter, who is a stickler for seeing things through to the end, wanted to see the python through to the end, even though it was only about halfway through, but she finally gave up.

And despite its name being a reptile house, houses
parrots I had never seen a parrot say "hello" or "bye-bye," so it was quite a shocking experience.
Although it did say goodbye, it didn't want the visitors to leave and started acting violently, perhaps trying to keep them there (the information board also said that this was just the parrot's personality). This was my
final, and in some ways, the most memorable, experience at Tohoku Safari Park.

summary

This was my first time at a safari park, but I was able to get all the experiences I'd hoped for from a safari park, such as observing the animals up close and feeding them.
My wife, mother, and children all seemed to have made their own memories before heading home.
I highly recommend renting a safari and seeing the animals in the free-roaming area up close.

As an aside, I visited during the summer holidays but before Obon, but it wasn't too crowded. This
is one facility I would recommend to people who want to go out during a long holiday but want to avoid excessive crowds.

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