Tokyo 2011

2011 Ueno Zoo

It is Japan's oldest zoo, opening on March 20, 1882. It is a five-minute walk from the Park Exit of Ueno Station, with convenient access from Tokyo's public-transportation network.
The ground was originally estate of the imperial family, but was bestowed (恩賜 onshi?, forming the first part of the name in Japanese, untranslated officially) to the municipal government in 1924 — along with Ueno Park — on the occasion of crown prince Hirohito's wedding.




The Japanese Army ordered that all "wild and dangerous animals" at the zoo be killed, claiming that bombs could hit the zoo and escaping wild animals would wreak havoc in the streets of Tokyo. Requests by the staff at the zoo for a reprieve, or to evacuate the animals elsewhere, were refused. The animals were executed primarily by poisoning, strangulation or by simply placing the animals on starvation diets. A memorial service was held for the animals in December 1943 (while several of the animals were yet dying) and now a new permanent memorial (added in 1975) can be found in the Ueno Zoo.

Thank you to Hui Ling for my second Tokyo gotochi! :)