The zoo…

As I mentioned in the post I wrote this morning (Click here to see it), the 上野動物園 (Ueno Zoo) offered free admission today. So my wife and daughters went there (I couldn’t go because I had to work…but they invited our eight-year-old niece who lives not too far from us to join them).

We expected it would be crowded there today, but it wasn’t too bad…probably because it was rainy for the past two days. But the weather was fine today.
They had a good time.

As I wasn’t there, my wife and daughters took all of these pictures.

Here’s the 北極熊 (Polar Bear):

And they happened to get to the アザラシ (sea lions) just in time to see two of them fighting:

The ゴリラ (gorilla) was wearing a tarp like a blanket.
Here he was picking his nose:

Another shot of him:

This is a バク (Tapir):

The Petting zoo portion of 上野動物園 (Ueno Zoo) has 鶏のメス (chickens), 鶏のオス (roosters), ヤギ (goats), 羊 (sheep), アヒル (ducks), and ネズミ (mice) (there used to be 豚 (pigs) there..but, it seems, they’ve been moved):

I like サイ (rhinoceros):

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上野動物園 (Ueno Zoo) is Japan’s first zoo. It opened on March 20, 1882.
It used to have パンダ (pandas), but the last one died in April 2008. China offered to lease more pandas to the zoo, but the Tokyo government decided the price was too steep. (You can read my post about the panda’s passing by clicking here.)

都民の日

Today is 都民の日 (Tokyo Citizens Day).
All of the prefectures in Japan have Citizens Day at different times of the year…for Tokyo, it’s on October 1.

On this day, public schools are closed and many zoos and aquariums in Tokyo offer free admission.
(These places usually offer free admission three times a year…on 都民の日 (Tokyo Citizens Day), 緑の日 (Greenery Day (May 4)), and the anniversary of the opening of the establishment.

For example, 上野動物園 (Ueno Zoo) is open to the public for free on October 1 (都民の日 (Tokyo Citizens Day)), May 4 (緑の日 (Greenery Day)), and on March 20 (the anniversary of the zoo’s opening on March 20, 1882).

So, my daughters have the day off today (I have to go to work). My wife and kids decided to go to 上野動物園 (Ueno Zoo) today.

It’s gonna be crowded, I’m sure! A couple of years ago, we took the kids to 上野動物園 (Ueno Zoo) on 都民の日 (Tokyo Citizens Day).
And it was nice to get in for free…but it was really crowded.

Actually, when we go to 上野動物園 (Ueno Zoo), we normally only have to pay admission for my wife and I because children aged 12 and under are always free, and so are Junior High School students who live and/or go to school in Tokyo.
We live in Tokyo and my kids go to the Junior High School nearest our house.

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Anyways, our 甲虫 (Rhinoceros Beetle) that I mentioned in this post died today 😦

R.I.P. カブちゃん!