#117 Kakegawa Bird and Flower Park

This is a popular attraction in Kakegawa, a stop on the Shinkansen in Shizuoka Prefecture, about an hour and a half south of Tokyo. There is also a small castle here, but overall, if you're not already in the area, don't bother stopping especially for this.



The entrance fee for the park for adults is 1,080 yen. It is then 100yen per food serving to feed the birds, so that’s probably another 500 yen. It’s then 500yen to get a photo with a penguin, or 300yen for a small owl. There is a footbath with fish which costs 300yen, and also a one hour buffet lunch for 1000yen. They do have free bird shows about twice daily.

Overall, the park is quite small. You see pictures and assume it’s much larger, but in reality there are only about 5 bird enclosures. For the price, which probably ends up around 2,000 yen for most people, I think it’s too much.

There is not so much information in English, apart from the bird names. They have notices that you must pay 100yen for bird food, but they don’t bother to translate safety notices like ‘These birds like to bite’ which I find typical of Japanese thinking of “Make sure the foreigners pay and don’t break the rules, but if they want helpful information they should learn Japanese or get out of the country.” (Maybe it’s a little unfair, but I have seen enough notices, or lack-of notices, that this mentality just can’t be ignored.)

For the flower aspect, there’s not really that much going on. There’s an indoor greenhouse where the buffet is served and there are many flowers hanging from the ceiling, and a large lilly pond, but that’s basically it. Comparing with something like the Garden Park or Flower Park in nearby Hamamatsu it doesn’t level up at all.

Yes it’s fun to get a photo with a penguin, have a toucan sit on your shoulder and an emu chase you around a field, but that’s all the highlights. You could be in and out in an hour if you wanted. While I enjoyed myself, I couldn’t help but think the price was too high and the park too small. This is in comparison with a zoo, the average price of a zoo in Japan is probably about 500yen and it would be much bigger with a larger variety of animals, although admittedly you’re not likely to get a photo with a lion.

Overall I would give it 3 out of 5. It’s fun and interesting, but you would get better value visiting Hamamatsu Zoo and adjacent Flower Park. The zoo is 400yen, and the flower park varies by season but can be free, 500yen with a 500yen shopping voucher, or up to about 1,000 yen．

If you’re only in Japan a short time I would skip it entirely, there are far better animal focused places to visit like Ueno Zoo in Tokyo and see Giant Panda’s for only 600yen, or take a trip to Nagano and see the famous snow monkeys relaxing in the hot springs.