Gyōsen Park and Edogawa Natural Zoo

photo by しんぎんぐきゃっと · CC BY-SA 4.0

photo by Comyu · CC BY-SA 3.0

Free zoo inside a public park, rare in Tokyo, where you pay for zoos almost everywhere.

Inside the park, a small free-entry zoo is home to around sixty species, from the red panda to the giant anteater, an exception in a city where almost all zoos charge admission. Families bring packed lunches near the petting area, where children touch rabbits and goats in time slots limited since the pandemic. Next to it, the Heisei garden, in hill-and-pond style, sits beside a tea pavilion, the Genshin-an.

The park takes its name from the company of its donor, Tanaka Genshi, ‘Gyōsen’, and began as a public neighbourhood park in Kita-Kasai. Inside it, the Edogawa municipal natural zoo (江戸川区自然動物園) opened in 1983, and the Heisei Japanese garden in 1989.

ℹ️ Zoo open 10:00–16:30 (from 9:30 on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays; until 16:00 from November to February), closed on Mondays (the following day if a public holiday) and from 29 December to 1 January; free entry. The park itself is always accessible. Since the pandemic, the petting area has required a first-come, first-served ticket, with limited times: it is not always available to those who arrive late. The artificial rock slide gets crowded at weekends.

🚉 Nishi-kasai · 12 min walk

Sources: city.edogawa.tokyo.jp · edogawa-kankyozaidan.jp · jalan.net

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