Visitor Information

Tokyo Zoo Welcome Center offers information in English and Chinese

Ueno Zoo has opened Tokyo Zoo Welcome Center on January 15, 2020, which provides information about the zoo and local tourist spots in English and Chinese. Open until December 2020. The Center is located next to the General Information Center inside the zoo, just near the Main Gate.

The center offers 30-minute guided tours in English and Chinese: everyday at 10am and 2pm in English and 10:30am and 2:30pm in Chinese.

Hours and Days Open

Ueno Zoo opens 9:30 to 17:00 (tickets sold until 16:00) and closes every Monday(closes Tuesday if Monday is a public holiday or Tokyo Citizen's Day [Oct 1]) and December 29 through January 1.

Exceptional opening days and hours: We open irregularly on some Mondays as well as on Tuesdays even if Monday is a public holiday. In summer, the zoo closes later than 17:00 (see more details below).

(The Vivarium and the Small Mammal House close at 16:30.)

Please call +81-3-3828-5171 for information and update.

Admission

*Free for junior high school students living in Tokyo or attending schools in Tokyo.

*Groups of 20 or more paying individuals are entitled to a 20% discount providing the group enters together through one entry at one time.

*Free admission for the disabled, and one assistant per disabled person.

*The admission is free on March 20 (Ueno Zoo's Anniversary Day), May 4 (Greenery Day), and October 1 (Tokyo Citizens' Day).

We now accept the following payment methods at staffed ticket windows at each of the park entrances (Main Gate, Benten Gate, and Ikenohata Gate):
- Credit Cards (Visa, Mastercard, JCB, American Express, Diners Club, and Discover)
- e-money (Suica and all Suica-compatible IC transit cards)

*As of 9/2019, we are unable to process the above payment types at our automated ticket machines. However, we expect to have them equipped to do so in the near future.

*Please note that we are unable to add funds to IC transit cards at the park.

Guest Services

Gift shops, snack bars and restaurants. Baby strollers, coin-operated lockers, and wheelchairs (non-motorized) available.

Parking

We have no parking lots, but there are toll ones in the vicinity.

Directions & Contact

To the main gate

① 5 minutes’walk from JR Ueno Station Park Exit.

To the Benten gate

② 5 minutes’walk from JR Ueno Station Shinobazu Exit.
③ 4 minutes’walk from Keisei Ueno Station.
④ 8 minutes’ walk from Subway Ueno Station (Ginza/Hibiya Line).
⑤ 10 minutes’ walk from Ueno-okachimachi Station (Oedo Subway Line).

To the Ikenohata gate

⑥ 5 minutes’ walk from Nezu Station (Chiyoda Subway Line).

*We have no parking lots, but there are toll ones in the vicinity.

Contacts

Zoo Map

Click here for a printable PDF map.

About Ueno Zoo

Ueno Zoological Gardens is the oldest zoo in Japan. Founded in 1882, it has grown over the years, expanded its area to 14.3 ha (35.2 acres) and been the flagship of the Japanese zoo world. Now it's home to over 3,000 animals from 400 different species and provides visitors with learning experience about the diversity of animals as well as fun and enjoyment.

In its long history, Ueno Zoo has received numerous animals from abroad. In 1972, the first giant pandas arrived from China to Ueno Zoo. We have been cooperating with Beijing Zoo (China), San Diego Zoo (US), and breeding of wild giant pandas. After Ling Ling's death in 2008, Ri Ri and Shin Shin arrived at the zoo in 2011.

In the "Gorilla Woods" and the "Tiger Forest," you experience the thrill of facing nose-to-nose with those amazing wildlife. In an effort to breed endangered species, we have organized nationwide and worldwide zoo networks and share experience and knowledge of animal husbandry and management.

The Five-storied Pagoda and the tea ceremony house give the zoo a Japanese touch.
The pagoda was built in 1631, rebuilt after destruction by fire, and in 1958 the owner, Kan'ei-ji temple, gave the pagoda to Tokyo Metropolitan Government, who assigned its management to Ueno Zoo. The tea ceremony house was built to entertain Shoguns in 17th century, and it stills stands as a historic structure in the zoo ground.

Okapis and aye-ayes are quite rare species, which came to Ueno Zoo as a part of international breeding cooperation. We have succeeded in breeding of aye-ayes as well as pygmy hippos, which are also endangered in the wild.

In the Small Mammal House, you'll find the wonder of nocturnal animals.
In 1999, the Vivarium (Reptile and Amphibian House) has been completed, where world's rare fishes, crocodiles, turtles, snakes and frogs can be seen in the green house.

Shinobazu Pond in the West Area is a unique habitat for wild common cormorants, Phalacrocorax carbo, which once were seen everywhere in Japan, but now are endangered.

Animals

East Area:

Giant pandas, Asiatic elephants, Pheasants, snow owls, raptors, Sumatran tigers, Indian lions, western lowland gorillas, gibbons, Bird House, Nocturnal House (mouse deer, leopard cats, slow lorises, bats), South American tapirs, cranes, California sea lions, bears (polar bears, Hokkaido brown bears, sun bears, and Japanese black bears), otters, sacred ibises, birds of Tokyo, monkeys (Japanese macaques, white-mantled black colobuses, black-handed spider monkeys), prairie dogs, etc.

West Area:

African animals (black rhinos, hippos, pygmy hippos, giraffes, zebras, okapis), maned wolves, aardvarks, gray gentle lemurs, ruffed lemur, ring-tailed lemurs, aye-ayes, Small Mammal House (rodents, bats, armadillos, hedgehogs, nocturnal animals), Vivarium (galapagos tortoise, saltwater crocodile, green iguana, geckos, corn snakes, Japanese pond turtles, and other reptiles and amphibians), Children's Zoo (guinea pigs, rabbits, cows, goats and other domestic animals), etc.