The Crafty Tokyoite’s Guide to Japan is a weekly (or an attempt to be) feature I post about recommendations of places to visit in Japan (mostly Tokyo). I know this is a tourist heavy country and if I can help in any way with anybody wanting to take a trip out here, I would love that more than anything. Sometimes they’re lists, sometimes they’re photo logs of places I’ve been to, and sometimes they’re just a simple blog post with something I want to share about the city I love the best. I hope you enjoy and please feel free to leave any comments or feedback about places in Japan you’d like me to write about!
On Saturday, June 4th, L and I decided to drive out to Mt. Fuji area to visit Fuji Safari Park (富士サファリパーク). It’s one of my favorite places to go, and in L’s two and a half years living in Japan, he had never been so we decided to go before it got too hot. The weather was a little meh, but it was absolutely worth it! I wish one of us had brought our DSLR, but unfortunately we had a mishap: we forgot our SD card. Dun dun dunnnnn – so we had to use our iPhones. But it was just as well because we weren’t allowed to open our windows during the drive through the “safari” so we had that dreaded window glare in most of our photos. Regardless, we had an absolute blast and it’s highly, highly, recommended to anyone staying or going to Mt. Fuji area during a Japan trip.
Many of the “large” animals were viewed via your own car or by the Safari park bus. If you ride the bus, they have these caged windows that they attach raw meat to it, and the lions and tigers come RIGHT UP to the windows to eat it. It’s crazy-cool but this time we went through in our own car so none of that funky business for us. Instead, we settled for the awesome “petting-zoo” portion of the rest of the park. There is Dog House, a Cat House, and a Bunny House, where you pay ¥500 (~$4.50) to go into each of the “houses” to bond with the respective animals. We chose to go the closer-to-free route of paying ¥50 each to feed the alpaca (my favorite), the albino kangaroos (who didn’t even move, much less eat), and the regular kangaroos (THE BEST EVER, #1 BEST PART OF MY DAY). You can also go in and cuddle capybaras, and other little critters, as well as take photos with baby lions (seasonal). Unfortunately, the tickets to take photos with baby lions were all sold out (literally devastated), but it was all worth it to feed the kangaroos.
As you can tell, I couldn’t get enough of these guys. And they have little joeys (baby kangaroos) IN MAMA’S POUCHES. We were squealing (yes, even L). They’re hungry little buggers and we ran out of coins by the end of the day so I was literally picking up food off the ground that people had dropped to keep feeding these guys. I’m pretty sure I was single-handedly responsible for kangaroo obesity at the park, if they encounter that problem. As you can tell, this was such an amazing and unforgettable day for us. I cannot recommend it enough. It’s so different than a traditional zoo where your heart hurts seeing animals in tiny cages – and I know it doesn’t change that they’re in captivity, but we had such a wonderful time. Let me know if you have any questions!
Fuji Safari Park | website
Address: 〒410-1231 Shizuoka Prefecture, Susono, 須山字藤原2255−27
Phone Number: 055-998-1311
Open From Mar.16 to Sep.3 09:00 to 17:00
From Oct.1 to Oct.31 9:00 to 16:30
From Nov.1 to Mar.15 10:00 to 15:30
Admission: Adults (high school & older) ¥2,700
Children (4 to middle school): ¥1,500
Senior Discount (65+): ¥2,000
******I HIGHLY recommend you buy your tickets at a discounted rate at a convenience store******
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