Ueno Zoo

Ueno Zoo currently has no giant pandas on display. The zoo's final pair, twin cubs Xiao Xiao and Lei Lei, returned to China on January 27, 2026, following the earlier departures of their mother Shin Shin and father Ri Ri in September 2024 and their older sister Xiang Xiang in February 2023. For the first time since 1972, Japan has no giant pandas anywhere in the country. Any guide that still leads with panda information is describing a situation that no longer exists.

That said, Ueno Zoo remains very much worth visiting on its own terms. Opened March 20, 1882, it is Japan's oldest zoo, a 14.3-hectare site inside Ueno Park managed by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government through the Tokyo Zoological Park Society.

The zoo is split into an East Garden, reached from the Main Gate, and a West Garden, reached from the Bentenmon Gate, connected by a monorail and walking paths that cross over Shinobazu Pond. A third entrance, the Ikenohata Gate, offers a quieter approach from the Toei Oedo Line side.

Current exhibits include western lowland gorillas, Sumatran tigers (a mother and cub, viewed separately as of 2026), and a pygmy hippopotamus calf born and named in spring 2026, alongside the zoo's broader collection spanning both gardens.

Admission remains inexpensive, with free entry for children under 12, making Ueno Zoo an easy, low-cost addition to a Ueno Park day that already includes the National Museum of Nature and Science and Tokyo National Museum.

For a traveler specifically hoping to see giant pandas in Japan, Ueno Zoo is, as of this writing, not the destination it once was; there is currently no panda-viewing anywhere in the country. For everyone else, particularly families with young children, it remains a solid, historic zoo well worth an afternoon.