Asahiyama Zoo Pt 2 - Snacks and Snackees

10th of August, 2010 - This is the second instalment from Arashiyama Zoo - and we'll see how I go in terms of finishing it off. Still getting over a cold and a heavy bout of working for a living. The first thing I'll say is that Japan is not the first place I'd think of for watching penguins - however that's most probably far from the reality. Indeed, Japan has a somewhat natural affinity to these strange birds of the ice - you just need to google penguins in Japan to see things like the famous Penguin Parade in Noboribetsu Marine Park Nixe in Hokkaido.

Arashiyama Zoo's exhibit is a lot less 'exploitative' and features some novel experiences, such as the underwater glass tunnel that allows you to view the penguins in their almost natural environment. The water. Unfortunately for us, when we were there, only a single penguin (out of quite a few) felt the need for a swim. Which was surprising given how hot it was. Did I mention the queues. You have to wait a long time in queues to see any of the main exhibits such as the polar bears or the seals.

Now penguins have a certain grace - especially in water. Baby penguins however are a different story. They just look tragic in their over-sized-mum-knitted-70's-sweaters. I can imagine however why they might be a tasty morsel for sharks, orca and polar bears (who must look somewhat ruefully over at the penguin pen) if only polar bears lived in the southern hemisphere - the penguins natural habitat.

One of the other major exhibits is the seals... where their area features a remarkable underwater tube through which they can swim and observe the visitors as if we were the animals in the cage. Unfortunately the queue for that was about 30 mins or more, and we'd reached our limit. I was satisfied enough to watch the seal show on the surface. It's a hard life being fed a diet of fresh fish every other hour. This brings up one word of warning. Like most Japanese attractions, there's a squillion people there and all waiting in line. In summer time it can be oppressive.

Changing tack slightly... but no less un-Japanese, we then visited the Lion area. This was a good area as it let you get all sorts of different views of the Lion (from close up to long distance views from above). 

I had the very distinct feeling that he was looking right down my 250mm camera lens....  just hoping and praying that I'd fall into the Lion's Den and make an early lunch.

Time too cool off... with a taco dispenser. Actually - it was a VERY hot day, and we did have one serious event during the afternoon. T-chan's mother suddenly got quite sick, and we ended up having to go to the first aid centre. Heat stroke. It was something that was afflicting a lot of the people that year all over Japan. And it suddenly became a very real problem. Thankfully, rest, fluid and some time laying down in the air-conditioned first aid room was what was required. Scary.

Whilst Okaasan rested, the rest of us had a quick look around the rest of the zoo (though less waiting in lines). Now as you might remember from my post on Maruyama Zoo in Sapporo, I have a somewhat uneasy relationship with zoos. Even when we go to the Adelaide Zoo, I have a few qualms. I especially feel uneasy when I see the primates in the zoo. We came across the orang-utan enclosure, and there on the outside (I'm not sure if this was intentionally separated) was the big male. There was a look of total resignation and sadness in his eyes. It really did make me start questioning my position on zoos again...

Then again, when we went inside, there was another moment that seemed to wipe away any feelings of sadness. The young orang-utan was in fine form.... and I have to admit that I was totally captivated as was L-kun and T-chan. Whilst the grumpy old Dad may have been a little less than inspiring, the child was just a bundle of life.

It's also interesting to see how similar the relationships between our hairier cousins and our own families. I'm sure T-chan has felt like this on many an occasion. Not entirely sure what's going on, but having the sense that something bad was about to happen at any instant.

Outside, we checked out a few other animals enclosures... the deer were nice, and I'd not see impressive horns like this up close before. Of course, if you've ever been to Nara you would have experienced enough deer to last a lifetime.

Now we come to the final sorry tale of the day... T-chan and I had taken L-kun to visit the giraffe or kirin which is also the name for the mythical asian animal that adorns the beer of the same name. Well - we were quite surprised to find that the enclosure was designed in such a way that the giraffe could literally bend over the fence and grab branches from the crowd. And do you think that they were lapping it up. The kids were going crazy.

And I have to say that this is one father who let the love for his son make him do something he knew he shouldn't have. I joined in. And yes, lifted L-kun up so that he could feed the giraffe which was one of the things that really excited him. He just wanted to do it more and more. Now I am a sensible, well educated adult that knows that captive animals most probably aren't adapted to eat any old vegetation... so feeding them isn't such a good idea. I know this - but still I let L-kun try.

Suddenly, I felt a tap on my shoulder... and a rather agitated Japanese man was telling me that it wasn't safe... to which I rather foolishly replied that it was ok, I was holding my son well. To which he replied that he wasn't talking about my son. The penny dropped... he was criticising me for feeding the animal. At which point I had to think - well, yes, it was something I would have agreed with (if I hadn't been touched by the glowing smiles of my son). But I also felt a strong sense of anger. He hadn't said anything to anyone else that was there. Just the foreigner. The person that he felt that he could chastise... though I will be careful not to ascribe too many cultural stereotypes to this. Of course, my indignation might have been more vocal if it wasn't for the fact that I knew he was most likely right. I do wonder however about the zoo's clearly tacit approval of the behaviour... I can't believe that this was the first time that feeding the giraffe has happened.

Japan is very friendly - but in a culturally restrained mono-culture, I sometimes do feel that it's very easy to stand out. I'm sure every foreigner that lives in Japan feels the same way, but most probably have much more disturbing stories.

Changing the subject... you never know what you'll find in a zoo. Interestingly, mushrooms (of fungi more broadly) do not belong to the plant kingdom (or the animal kingdom for that matter). Rather they come from same sort of family that spawned (pun intended) yeasts and moulds. Japanese mushrooms are well known for their psycho-active qualities... but I'm sure they're also know for their ability to be mistaken with poisonous mushrooms. One of my favourite dishes to make is mushroom risotto - not sure what the reaction would be to these sorts of ingredients however.

Well - we come to the end of the Arashiyama Zoo story... it's a great place to visit if you're in Hokkaido and either have a car, or willing to catch the train up to visit Asahikawa (there price's a little expensive however ranging from 4940 yen for a discounted "free seating" ticket - with half price for children). The train take just over 1.5 hours from Sapporo. For me, it'd be cheaper and more enjoyable to hire a car for the day if there's more than one of you going.

But remember - it can get quite hot (and humid) in summer, and the queues can be extraordinary. Take plenty of liquids (especially water / sports drink) and be patient. Asahiyama Zoo is one of the most popular in Japan - and the enclosures are nice - and much nicer than in some Japanese zoos that I've seen. It is however a zoo, so if you don't like animals in captivity, it may be one to avoid.

If you go up however, be sure to pop in to at least Biei on the way back to Sapporo if you're doing only a day trip.... which leads on to my next post....

Asahiyama Zoo Pt 1 - Polar Bear Fun In The Sun

 10th of August, 2010 - Well it's a special day - we're off to the zoo... Asahiyama Zoo. Now - this is where I think I might lose people a little, so I'll try and explain slowly. Asahiyama is a mountain in Sapporo. That's not where the zoo is. Asahiyama Zoo in fact isn't even in Asahiyama. No. It's in Asahikawa. That's a large-ish city to the north of Sapporo (see below), about 137 km from Sapporo / 2 hours drive (by tolled expressway) or 150 km / 3 hours drive by untolled roads. Once you get into the city you'll see plenty of signs for the zoo - and just be aware that there's at least two entry points.

View Larger Map

Now it was a reasonable drive, so we all got in the car nice and early to get there for the opening of the zoo, around 9:30 am in summer, or 10:30 in winter. Tickets are 800yen per person - or if you pay an extra 200 yen, you can visit for as many times as you want (for about 6 months). The zoo itself was first opened in 1964 but had pretty well started to die (like many Japanese tourist parks) in the early-mid 90's. Around that time they took a brave step in 1997 to re-invest a lot of funds into making the exhibits more immersive - no, thankfully not interactive! It worked. Asahiyama Zoo has one of the reputations of being one of the best Zoos in Japan, and is always very popular. Indeed it has been battling head to head with Ueno Zoo in terms of the total number of visitors per year (and is now around 3.5 million!). That's a lot of people, and whilst we didn't expect they'd all chose this day to visit the zoo, it was still going to be busy. The drive up to Asahikawa is quite nice - although cloudy in part. Still it's a bit of countryside that I hadn't experienced before.

Now I've split this post over two (as I'm essentially lazy) and I won't go into too much detail on the history of the zoo of the animals. Most are not that unique. In fact I'd have to say that I'm not so keen on Japanese zoos in general as the exhibits tend to be a little cramped and dated - and a bit of a throwback. Asahiyama is however quite different, with lots more vegetation and natural environs as well as a number of special viewing spots.

One of my favourites were the wolves. You'd be surprised how hard it is to spot a black wolf (though you might wonder looking at the photos). When prone in the grass they were hard to see. Once you do catch hold of those eyes you never lose them again. They're powerful and mesmerising set of peepers.

Actually, despite the grey look about the day in the photo above, when we got to Asahikawa it was mostly fine, and I have to say HOT. I felt particularly sad for the wolves. Black thick winter coats. Still, I'm sure they would have liked to help me get out of my flesh-coat... if givne have a chance.

Then of course there are other slightly less imposing wild dogs. It's hard to look menacing when you're scratching behind your ears.

One of the stranger animals here - or at least I thought it was strange - is the Capybara, from southern Americas. Now when I first saw this animal I thought - awwwww isn't it cute. It kinda looks like a cross between a Guinea Pig (hamster) and a hippopotamus. Ok, I'm not evern going to try and imagine how that could happen. Ewwwwgh. Still, they're a an odd animal in that from one angle they look quite handsome.

From other angles they seem to better fit their title of the world's largest rodents. Weighing typically around 50 kg, these are large. And thankfully they very much are herbivores. Still... the rodent instinct is likely buried in there somewhere. By the way - did you know what makes a rodent a rodent? Apparently it's the fact that these mammals have continuously growing incisors that are only kept under check by constant mastication. That's right - I said MASTICATION. Chewing.

The other animal that I was particularly sympathetic to was the Red Panda, or as it's otherwise known - the Lesser Panda. It was really looked like it struggled... but the interesting thing about the Red Panda enclosure is that there's actually two that are separated by the footpath... with only a log allowing the Panda to walk over everyone's head to move between the two. Still today, the poor Panda didn't do a whole heap of moving.

It did however give us all an honest appraisal - and the verdict wasn't good.

The real attraction for me was the Polar Bear show. I have to admit that these massive animals are one of my favourites. Why - well if you've ever seen a Polar Bear swimming under water you'd understand. They're amazing things to see under water, freed of their huge weight. Of course - above water they're pretty awesome too. In a BIG way.

Forget about the Angry Birds - you would definitely not want to make one of these babies upset with you. I thought it quite disturbing to have the windows so close to the bears. They seemed to have an unhealthy interest in us snacks visitors behind the glass.

Now the main attraction is the pool which is opened up regularly - however - there is often a very long queue to get into the observation area. And I mean a long queue. It took us maybe over 30 minutes of lining up (actually, at least this amount). The thing is that they let people in for about 10 minutes at a time, and then you get moved along. It does feel a little like a conveyor belt at times, but I suppose there's few things that can be done given how popular they are. 

And it is worth it. It's amazing seeing these great creatures being so  flexible and yes graceful under water. And there's always plenty of fish being thrown in to keep the Polar Bear interested.

Whilst I might not have been getting good photos (the windows can be deceptive for the autofocus on cameras, and manually focusing proved very hit-and-miss with emphasis on miss).

Still hopefully you get some feel for how they go... lots of fun (if you can stand being like a sardine...with the human press). 

One of the funny things was that we gave one of the cameras to Otousan to take photos whilst I used the DSLR and T-chan used the video camera. It was interesting to see some of the photos - but much appreciated Otousan!

Some of the photos were just a little too - er - personal however. Although I do have to admit that Polar Bear bottoms are very cute. Or is it just me?

Of course, if you want to get really up close and personal, there's always the rather obliging (and stuffed) Polar Bear out the back. They're a beautiful animal however, and I'd always search out Polar Bears wherever I go. Although I wasn't that keen to wait around as much as we did - especially in the heat which had started to get quite oppressive.

Now we're about halfway through the visit to Asahiyama Zoo... and L-kun was getting just a little trigger happy. So I'd better call it quits for the moment, and finish off this post over the next day or so. Until that time... go ahead, make my day!