Passing the Dog, Panda and Shoebill Days of Summer at the Ueno Zoo

First opened in 1882, Tokyo’s Ueno Zoo is Japan’s oldest and most famous zoo. Situated in the west end of expansive Ueno Park, the zoo is only one of the many museums, temples and other public institutions located in the park. Since the park borders Ueno station (one of Tokyo’s largest Japan Rail stations, through which both the central Yamanote line and the high-speed Shinkansen pass) the park has become one of the city’s most popular and easily accessible tourist attractions.
The Ueno Park of today sits on what once were the grounds of the Kaneiji, a temple built by the Tokugawa Shogun and destroyed during the Boshin War of the late 19th century. In 1924, the Emperor Taisho granted the land to the city so that a park might be built as a gift to the people of Tokyo. A number of shrines exist in the park today, including a small shrine hidden behind a pathway of red torii (above).
Here’s the zoo’s front gate; as I recall, the entrance fee is about ¥600. Fun fact: during the Second World War, the Japanese military purposefully poisoned some of the zoo animals to prevent them from escaping in the event of a bombing. Wait, I guess that fact isn’t quite so fun after all. At any rate, this historical episode may have served as the inspiration for the brutal zoo killings in Murakami Haruki’s popular novel The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle.
Just inside the main gate is a five-story pagoda, which dates back to the 19th century as well.
One of the first exhibits that visitors are greeted by is the panda pavilion. The Japanese love their pandas, so much, in fact, that even animals decorated to look like pandas receive media attention. If you visit the zoo during a weekday, like I did, you’ll find that the passageways of the panda area are absolutely clogged by large masses of schoolchildren on field trips. Dressed in matching uniforms and bright red caps, these pint-sized gawkers form an insurmountable, if adorable, obstacle to panda enthusiasts. Pictured above is the red panda, obviously basking in the attention of two hundred sets of eyes.
The giant panda, the zoo’s prime attraction and trademark animal, seemed even more hung over than a JET the morning after a charity event. Regardless, the assembled crowd delighted at the skills this magnificent animal displayed: sleeping, lying around and scratching.

Oh, Japan.

Here we see some schoolboys examining a shoebill (or “whalehead,” if you prefer), one of Africa’s strangest-looking birds.
Just look at dude lording it over those comparatively boring flamingos. That bird is king of the jungle in my book.
I suspect that someone was having a bit of fun in the zoo’s translation department that day. Anyone know how I can apply for that job?