Izu Shaboten Zoo

If you’ve just ridden the Mt. Omuro cable car (the tram that takes you to the top of the grassy volcano), turn around and walk literally across the road — that’s where you’ll find Izu Shaboten Zoo. It’s the perfect laid-back half-day activity after the view from the summit. This isn’t one of those massive, exhausting zoos. It’s compact, shady, and genuinely cozy. On the weekday I visited, it felt almost private — hardly any crowds, just the sound of gravel underfoot and the occasional peacock screech. Of course, the undisputed stars are the capybaras. They have a huge outdoor area with a hot-spring bath (yes, the capybaras actually soak in an onsen in winter — adorable doesn’t even begin to cover it). Even in summer they’re ridiculously chill, lounging in the water or munching grass while visitors watch in quiet awe. Other highlights: • Free-roaming peacocks that follow you around like they own the place (one decided to walk with me for a solid ten minutes — best escort ever). • A fantastic walk-through bird zone where flamingos, sacred ibis, ducks, geese, and spoonbills wander right past your feet. No cages, just a big netted area — you really feel like you’ve stepped into their world. • Classic zoo lineup done well: cheeky otters, wallabies, antelopes, donkeys, turkeys, parrots, even a few lazy sloths hanging in the greenhouse section. My only tiny disappointment was that the shoebill wasn’t on display the day I went (apparently he sometimes takes “days off” inside). Next time! Everything feels lovingly maintained, the paths are easy, there are plenty of benches in the shade, and the whole vibe is relaxed and happy. Combine it with the cable car and the cactus greenhouse (the “shaboten” part of the name) next door, and you’ve got yourself a perfect easygoing afternoon on the Izu Plateau.

If you love capybaras, Izu Shaboten Zoo is the place to go. Seeing the capybaras in winter, quietly soaking in their yuzu baths, was such a simple joy. The zoo has a very laid back, open feel, making it easy to wander around and enjoy the animals at your own pace. On top of that, there was a fantastic view of Mount Fuji from the zoo, which made the whole experience feel even more special.

I visited Izu Shaboten Zoo by bike on Friday, and it was lively with many tourists and local schoolchildren. In the nocturnal animals’ area, I saw bats for the first time in my life, which was a memorable experience. The zoo has a spacious layout where animals move around freely, and of course the capybaras were a highlight. The best part was the cactus-picking activity, where you choose your own cactus and pot to create a unique arrangement to take home. Although the entrance fee felt a bit high, the experience and atmosphere made it worth it.

Zoos in Japan can apparently be notoriously bad in terms on animal welfare standards. This one was good in some ways/parts, bad in others. It is quite a large zoo, with many different areas, and glasshouses for lots of different plants. It seems that thought and care has gone into making some of the outdoor enclosures feel natural and enriching for the animals. Places like the walkthrough enclosures and free roaming animals (the bird paradise, the wallabies, farm animals, around the lake, the peacocks) were mostly good as it was the people that were kept to a small portion, not the animals, who had sufficient space to do their own thing. Although the kangaroos seemed perhaps drugged (eyes closed) to make them docile around humans which isn't good if so. The capybara onsen was great, and it was nice to feed the capybara in other parts of the park, although the keepers were prodding them around unnecessarily. But this zoo just had too many animals to house and care for them all sufficiently. The largest animals (giraffes, tapirs?) didnt really have enough space. In particular the animals kept in small indoor tanks/enclosures seemed stressed and unhappy. I'm not sure if they were indoors just for the winter cold weather (some of the outdoor animals seemed a bit chilly) or at all times of year. The fact that visitors can feed them seems with some animals be a bad idea because the animals with not much else to do then end up unnaturally begging for food from all visitors, and its quite sad (binturong, cloud rats). In particular the indoor-only primates seemed unhappy (marmosets, lemurs in cage). I'm not sure if perhaps they were being kept indoors because they were ill and needed monitoring or if this was where they spent all their time. The zoo should reduce the number of animals, rehoming some of those who don't have enough space or things to do (particularly the mammals- monkeys, kangaroos, large animals like giraffes and tapirs), giving more space to others and focus on the ones that are more suited to the areas and to being in a captivity (amphibians, reptiles, birds, farm animals, very chill animals like capybara ).