Nogeyama Zoo Audio Guide

Nogeyama Zoo: what does the audio guide cover?

1. 01

   Welcome to Nogeyama zoo

   Welcome to Nogeyama zoo, known in Japanese as 横浜市立野毛山動物園. It is a city-run zoo in Nishi Ward, Yokohama, in Kanagawa Prefecture, and it sits inside Nogeyama Park, on a hill above the port city's busy centre. This is the oldest of Yokohama's municipal zoos, and it has a loved, local feel. It opened on the first of April in 1951. Giraffes and lions are among the familiar animals here, alongside reptiles and birds. The animals are kept close enough that you can watch how their bodies are built and how they move, right down to the small details. The zoo is small enough to stroll around, which makes it an easy outing for families and for visitors of any age. In this guide we will look at the hill the zoo stands on, its long history, a few of its animal stories, and the plans to renew it.

2. 02

   Nogeyama zoo: A Hill with a Merchant Past

   Before there were giraffes here, there was a hill. Long ago, the whole hilly area facing the old Noge shoreline, rising to about 50 meters, was called Nogeyama. Then came 1859, when Yokohama opened as a treaty port. Foreign residents settled to the east of the port, while the western hill of Nogeyama became a residential district for wealthy Japanese merchants. Mansions were built here for figures such as Hara Zenzaburo and Mogi Sobei. It is a surprising thought as you wander the paths today: this cheerful public park once belonged to the villas of the port's richest traders. The modern shape of the place arrived in 1964. The old reservoir was aging, so a new one was built underground, and the reservoir district, including a children's playground, was turned into parkland. That left the zoo area standing as Nogeyama zoo in the form we know today. Look for the cherry trees in spring. The park is famous for about 380 of them, and from the park you can take in a sweeping view of the Minato Mirai district.

3. 03

   Nogeyama zoo: Seven Decades and Sixty Million Visitors

   Nogeyama zoo is the senior member of the family of Yokohama zoos. It opened in 1951, followed by Kanazawa Zoo in 1982 and Zoorasia in 1999. All three are managed by the Yokohama Greenery Foundation. The opening was a real occasion. The day before the public opening, on the thirty-first of March, more than 1,000 guests were invited to an opening ceremony, and local newspapers announced that the zoo was opening its doors. In the official registry of 1955, it appears under the name Yokohama City Nogeyama Amusement Park Zoo. The numbers since then are remarkable. By the seventieth anniversary celebration in April 2021, the zoo had welcomed more than 60 million visitors in total. In 2015, annual visitors passed one million for the first time in 32 years, thanks to efforts across the local community. And the zoo's connection with its neighborhood goes further: since March 2020, Hinodecho Station on the Keikyu Main Line has carried the secondary station name Nogeyama Zoo.

4. 04

   Nogeyama zoo: Animal Stories and a Zoo Reborn

   Zoos are made of individual animal stories, and Nogeyama zoo has some good ones. Take Hamako, an elephant. Cells from her body, frozen and kept at Yokohama's breeding center, were later tested for DNA, and that settled the question of her species: she was an Asian elephant, of the Thai type. In March 2016, the zoo announced a first for Japan: the successful breeding of the ploughshare tortoise, considered the most endangered tortoise in the world. And there was a farewell in 2024, when Raja, an Indian lion, died on the thirtieth of June at the age of 16. After that, Zoorasia became the only place in Japan where Indian lions can be seen. The zoo is also looking ahead. After more than 70 years, the city has been working on a renewal of Nogeyama zoo. A draft renewal plan was announced in February 2024, public opinion was gathered, and the plan was revised in May of that year. Progress on the overall plan and the new buildings has since been reported to the city assembly. So the zoo you see may keep changing in the years ahead.

5. 05

   Before You Head Off

   Nogeyama zoo is a place where layers overlap. Under your feet is a hill once lined with merchants' mansions, around you are animals up close, and behind you is a city that has taken the zoo to its heart over 70 years. Before you go, step back into the wider park. Look out toward the Minato Mirai skyline and notice how close the zoo sits to the heart of Yokohama. The park also holds a preserved Yokohama city tram on display, and the Noge suspension bridge, completed in 1971 as the first slope-style pedestrian bridge in the city. As you walk back down toward Sakuragicho, ask yourself which animals made you linger longest, and what the next chapter of the zoo might look like once its renewal takes shape.