The weather has finally become spring-like. On March 6th, 2013, the day after Keichitsu (the awakening of insects), I looked into the pond at Inokashira Park Zoo 's "Animal Plaza" and, just as I suspected, there it was—that frog! It was Eastern Japanese Common Toad.
The plaza has two ponds, one about 30 centimeters deep and the other about 60 centimeters deep, and we saw 7 to 8 frogs in each. In the shallower pond, there were also egg masses that resembled udon noodles. They weren't there the day before, so they must have laid their eggs on the night of March 5th.

"I'm sure we'll get to see a frog battle after dark," I thought, and headed to the square in the evening with a flashlight. As I approached the pond, I could hear a "cluck cluck cluck" sound. It was a male Eastern Japanese Common Toad toad calling to a female. Contrary to its appearance, its voice was small and elegant, almost like a cough.
And there were so many more frogs in the pond than during the day! Most were males, but some were paired up with females. While it didn't escalate to a full-blown battle, we observed several males vying to mount the backs of females.

There were lots of frogs not only in the pond but also around it, and when I counted them using a flashlight, I found 40! Including the ones in the pond, there were probably around 80 in total. Most of them were males, and they had well-developed calluses on their fingers. I also observed a scene where two males were clinging to a large female, and all three were unable to move.
It's quite strange to think that such passionate activities are quietly unfolding in a dark corner of the zoo.
Unfortunately, the spawning season for Eastern Japanese Common Toad doesn't last long, but you might still be able to see some toads in the pond during the "Let's Play at the Animal Plaza" event on Sunday, March 10th at 11:00 AM. At the very least, you should be able to see the noodle-like egg masses.

Top photo: Two male frogs engaged in a skirmish.
Photo: Calluses on fingers
Photo below: One female and two males unable to move.

[Inokashira Park Zoo Zoo]

(March 8, 2013)