4.5Asahiyama Zoo(2.773 reviews) - Worth the visit Tuesday: 10:30 AM - 3:30 PM Spent 1-2 hours Zoos
Came via JR train to Asahikawa, a trip of more or less two hours (our mistake was we left late). We took a taxi from the train station to the zoo (would have been cheaper to take the bus, only about 490 yen each). Zoo closed early that day, 330pm. Temperature at the zoo was about 0.4 degrees C so be dressed for the cold of visiting in winter. There were penguins, deer, wolves, polar bear, brown bear, monkeys, the crane (symbol of Japan). Would have enjoyed more if we had come earlier. Last bus was at 4pm, good that we caught it as there were no other means of transport out after (as.we understood it). They had good ramen at the cafe. See more..
4.0Maruyama Zoo(773 reviews) - Well maintained Tuesday: 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM Zoos
An amusement park and penguin pool make this zoo a popular spot for children.See more..
3.5Noboribetsu Bear Park(505 reviews) - Not Exactly An Amazing Place to Visit in Winter Tuesday: 8:30 AM - 4:00 PM Zoos
I had gone to the bear park with a friend in the winter. Other than the bears in the cages, there was not much of things to see or do, other than the mini duck race that happens on certain timing. The park sells food packs that visitors can buy to feed the bears. Other infrastructures were not opened or not scheduled to happen yet at our visit. The museum was interesting with plenty of exhibits but were only in Japanese. To visit the bear park, you have to take a gondola up to the mountains. So before and after the gondola rides, there were souvenir shops strategically located in your path. Not advisable to visit in the winter but still may appeal to young children.See more..
4.0Kushiro City Tanchozuru Nature Park(251 reviews) - Not a good place to visit Japanes crane Tuesday: 9:00 AM - 6:00 PM Nature & Wildlife Areas • Zoos
The place here is quite far away from Kushiro city, there is only 4 buses per day, departing from Kushiro station to here, during winter time. We took Taxi there (~5000 yen), coz we missed the early morning bus. There were not many cranes in the park. They were all kept in the fence, and each area contains only one or two crane(s). The park is extremely small with a total of <20 cranes. Most of them are injuries and do not fly. Do not expect to see many cranes or watch them dance in this park. We stay in the park for 3 hours (waiting for next bus), the only visitor in that period (12:30 to 15:50), is me and my wife!! The worst part of this park is the transportation. Better go with your car, or else you need to wait for hours for the bus. The bus station is far from the park entrance, there is no bus stop sign and you need to cross the highway! Luckily, the staff in the entrance showed us the way to the bus stop.See more..
3.5Showa Shinzan Kumabokujo(131 reviews) - Volcano near Lake Toya Tuesday: 8:30 AM - 4:30 PM Zoos
Visited Showa Shinzan after spending some time in Lake Toya. The location is about 10 minutes drive from Lakeside Nono Kaze Hotel where I stayed. We took the rope way up to the usu volcano. Nice view of lake Toya from above. We tried to walk to the crater, but we do not have much time, perhaps next timeSee more..
4.0Hakodate Park(128 reviews) - Perfect place Tuesday: 12:00 AM - 11:59 PM Amusement & Theme Parks • Zoos • Parks
We were here when clouds were very low but anyhow we felt very comfortable in park. There is lot of places where you can relax and enjoy the view on various trees & bonsais. There are also attractions for kids. See more..
This place is a must visit if you have time for only 1 bear park. There are 18 bears in the park and you can either view by taking a bus or walk on the sky bridge. I tried both ways and would recommend that you go for the more expensive option of viewing the bears on the bus. You can see the bear really up close and personal. The park also has an observatory point which will allow those who chooses the walk to also have a chance to view the bears closed up. Comparing Bear Mountain to those bear parks in Noboribetsu and Showa Shinzan Bear park, this is the real thing. Bears in bear parks like those in Noboribetsu and Showa Shinzan were caged in cement enclosure. At first, it looks really amusing when the bears put up their arms and beg for bear biscuits. But on the second thoughts, it must be really miserable for bears to be living in cement enclosure and having to beg whole day for food from tourists.See more..
4.0Obihiro Zoo(100 reviews) - Girafves and zebras are raised by the same cage!! Tuesday: 9:00 AM - 4:30 PM Zoos • Gardens • Playgrounds
An elephant is raised at this zoo. The zoo where an elephant is raised in Hokkaido is only here. Girafves and zebras are raised by the same cage, so I'm interesting. An amusement park is also in this zoo. There are a Ferris wheel and a carrousel. The equipment in this zoo is old, but I think you can enjoy yourself surely.See more..
4.0Kushiro City Zoo(95 reviews) - Well taken care by zoologists after two inches of snow Tuesday: 10:00 AM - 3:00 PM Zoos
We decided to visit Kuahiro City Zoo during rain and snow storm. The zoo admission fee is 570 yen per adult. This zoo is not that small if you walk at every corner. One senior Zoologist came to ask us to walk very carefully because there was snow and rain on the ground, and started asking the other four workers to shuffle the two inches layer of snow to every animal's trail. My family of three were very touch of their sincere caring of their visitors well-being. I saw there were less than 10 visitors that morning. Every zoologist welcome his visitor with smile and politely explaining each individual animal. I wish that I could understand Japanese. There is a restaurant and gift shop inside the zoo. Must see the two-year old Polar bear, Milk. He plays non-stop with his beloved balls. He must be one smart polar bear. Highly recommend to spend a half day touring this well-maintained city zoo. See more..
3.5Kitakitsune Farm(84 reviews) - Pleasant aurpaie Tuesday: 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM Spent 2-3 hours Zoos
We drive and arrived mid-morning at the place, it looked deserted and the non-descript building did not add to its appeal, was worried it was a tourist trap. Went in nevertheless and it was a pleasant surprise. Once u are in the building, the path leads to another gate which opened up to a small park where the red foxes roam or in our case, most were lying n sleeping. There were no cages or fences separating us from the foxes though we have to stay on the garden path which cuts through the park. Nice enough experience and had the opportunity to feed a fox (the park trainer was friendly and offerred me their dry food and told me which specific fox to feed) and take pictures. See more..
