Inokashira Park Zoo
Inokashira Park Zoo (Japanese: いのかしらしぜんぶんかえん; Kanji: 井の頭自然文化園) is a city zoo in Musashino, Tokyo. It is in a corner of Inokashira Park near the Ghibli Museum. A branch of the zoo is in Mitaka. It opened on May 17, 1942. Overview. Large animals, such as the Asian elephant Hanako, were bred until 2016. Other animals, such as the Japanese serow and raccoon, are still bred. In 2006, to reduce the risk of breeding, the Ministry of the Environment moved some endangered Tsushima leopard cats to the zoo. Breeding restarted on February 22, 2008. It is divided into  a main zoo in Gotenyama, Musashino and a branch location in Inokashira, Mitaka. In the main park, mainly mammals and birds are raised, and water birds are kept in the garden surrounded by Inokashira pond. Also, there is a cultural museum, where special exhibitions and lectures or meetings are held. There was also a "tropical bird greenhouse", but on June 2, 2013 it closed due to its age. There is an aquarium with fish and amphibians in the secondary park. A sculpture garden is in one corner of the park with works by Seibo Kitamura. In addition, a small amusement  park (a merry-go round, teacups, train) is in another corner of the park. Smoking has been banned at the zoo, as of July 5, 2018. History. In September 1905, Shibusawa Eiichi borrowed a corner of Inokashira Gotenyama Garden from the Imperial Family and founded the Tokyo Maternity Hospital Conversion Division (later Inokashira School) to accommodate juvenile delinquents. On May 1, 1917, the entire town was granted to Tokyo and Inokashira Park was opened. On May 5, 1934, "Nakanoshima small animal zoo" opened at the current branch location. In 1939, when the Inokashira school relocated, the plan to build a  big zoo in this area was advanced. Initially it was conceived as "a big zoo" comparable to the Ueno Zoo, but due to the wartime budget and supplies shortage, large animals can not be gathered. The plan changed to a "nature observation park". It opened on May 17, 1942. Two giraffes were bred at the time of the opening, but both died by the end of the war. Hanako. Hanako (1947–2018) was a female Asian elephant that was kept at Inokashira Park Zoo. She was born in Thailand in 1947. She came to Japan for the first time after the  war, gifted to Ueno Zoo in 1949. She inherited the name of the elephant "Hanako (Wanry)" who was starved to death during the war. Hanako visited the whole country and Tokyo under the Ueno Zoo's "Mobile Zoo" project that began in 1950 and visited Inokashira Natural Culture Park for three consecutive years. On 5 March 1954 she was moved to Inokashira Park Zoo from Ueno Zoo. In 1956, she stepped on and killed a man who was inebriated and trespassing before the garden opened. In 1960 she stepped on and killed a male keeper. Her lower left teeth fell  out in the 1980s, so she has been fed with a liquid diet consisting of banana and apple. In 2013, Hanako broke the longevity record of elephants raised in Japan. On May 26, 2016, she died at the age of 69.