Ueno Zoo
Ueno, Tokyo
- Tue to Sun
- 9:30 to 17:00
- Mon
- Closed
Last entry 16:00. When Monday is a public holiday, it closes on Tuesday instead. Opens on some Mondays, so check the calendar. Closed 29 December to 1 January.
Source: tokyo-zoo.net, checked 5 Oct 2026.
Ueno Zoo is Japan's oldest zoo, in a corner of Ueno Park. It's compact, cheap and exactly the right size for small legs, with a five-storey pagoda rising over the enclosures. Its famous giant pandas went back to China in January 2026, leaving Japan without pandas for the first time since 1972.
More photos of Ueno Zoo
Insider tip
Go early on a weekday, before the school groups. Closed Mondays.
What the guides say about Ueno Zoo
The neighbourhood has Ueno Park, which holds most of Tokyo's major museums within one walkable footprint: the Tokyo National Museum, the National Museum of Western Art, the National Museum of Nature and Science and Ueno Zoo. Cherry blossom season turns the park into one of the city's most famous hanami spots. Ameyoko, the market street under the tracks, adds street food and discount goods to your daily routine.
Ueno Park takes the high ground on the west side of the station. Tokyo National Museum, the National Museum of Western Art, the National Museum of Nature and Science, Ueno Zoo and Toshogu Shrine, with its gilded gate, all sit inside the park.
What's on near Ueno Zoo
Upcoming events within a ten-minute walk of Ueno Zoo, from the weekly Tokyo events calendar.
Ueno Toshogu Winter Peony Garden
上野東照宮 冬ぼたん
Station Ueno (JR Lines, Ginza, Hibiya Lines), 5 min walk
Around 160 winter peonies of some 40 varieties bloom under individual straw shelters in the garden beside the gilded Ueno Toshogu shrine, the largest winter peony display in the Kanto region. A quiet counterpoint to the crowds elsewhere in Ueno Park.
wwarby, CC BY 2.0 ZEN NIGHT TOKYO
Time 17:30-19:30 (until 21:00 on Fri/Sat and Nov 1, 2, 22; until 21:30 on Nov 13) Station Ueno Station (JR Yamanote Line), 10 min walk
The Tokyo National Museum opens its garden, normally closed at 5pm, for a special night event combining light installations and immersive sound art among five historic teahouses and a pond, held alongside the museum's Daitokuji exhibition. Ticket price includes admission to the accompanying special exhibition.
Jean-Pierre Dalbéra, CC BY 2.0 Musée d'Orsay: The Joy of Being Alive
東京都美術館開館100周年記念 オルセー美術館所蔵 いまを生きる歓び
Station Ueno (JR Yamanote Line), 7 min walk
A special exhibition marking the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum's 100th anniversary, presenting around 110 masterworks from the Musée d'Orsay collection. The show continues well beyond the review window into spring 2027.
Ways of Reading: How the World Speaks to Us, How We Speak to the World
Time 9:30 to 17:30, Fridays to 20:00; closed 7 Dec and 21 Dec to 3 Jan Station Ueno (JR lines, Park exit), 7 min walk
Free show in Galleries A and C for the museum's 100th anniversary. Five artists, Alberto Giacometti, Momo Yamanishi, Shuntaro Tanikawa, Bikky Sunazawa and Elena Tutatchikova, each stand for one way of reading the world, through light, time, words, nature and the whole body. Yamanishi's pinhole photographs from Nepal and Tutatchikova's ceramic series Islands are new works.
For You to Read the World
あなたが世界を読むために
Time 9:30 to 17:30 Station Ueno (JR, Tokyo Metro Ginza/Hibiya Lines), 7 min walk
The exhibition presents works by Alberto Giacometti, Bikky Sunazawa, Shuntaro Tanikawa, Elena Tutatchikova and Momo Yamanishi, treating art as a way of reading the world. It runs at the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum through mid-January as part of the museum's 100th anniversary programme.
Smaller local events nearby
Heaven Artist Tokyo in Ueno Park Festival
23 to 25 Oct · Ueno Park (whole park)
Three days of Heaven Artist Tokyo street performances across Ueno Park, run by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government.
Free · Map · Source: Ueno Park (Tokyo Metropolitan Government) · ヘブンアーティストTOKYO
Pond Life Watching Day: Peek into Shinobazu Pond Festival
24 to 25 Oct · Ueno Zoological Gardens
A drop-in stand in the zoo's West Garden showing creatures caught in Shinobazu Pond, with binocular bird watching and a bingo sheet. Cancelled in rain.
Zoo admission (adults ¥600) · 10:30 to 12:00 and 13:00 to 14:30 · Map · Source: 上野動物園 イベント · 池の生きもの観察DAY「しのばずの池をのぞいてみよう」
Nearby
Around Ueno
Museums, market chaos, and Tokyo's great public park
Ueno does double duty. On one side you've got the park with its museums, its shrine, and some of the most famous cherry blossoms in Japan. On the other you've got Ameyoko, a market street that still runs on shouting and cash. Do both in one day and it's one of the best free-ish days out in Tokyo.
Ueno has 12 places on the Roam Tokyo map: 3 museums, 3 bathhouses, 2 shrines and temples, 2 parks and gardens, 1 restaurant and 1 market. Read the Ueno guide.
Good to know
- What is the address of Ueno Zoo?
- 9-83 Ueno-koen, Taito-ku, Tokyo (in Japanese: 台東区上野公園9-83).
- What are the opening hours of Ueno Zoo?
- Tue to Sun 9:30 to 17:00; Closed Mon. Last entry 16:00. When Monday is a public holiday, it closes on Tuesday instead. Opens on some Mondays, so check the calendar. Closed 29 December to 1 January.
- How do I get to Ueno Zoo?
- The nearest station is Ueno (JR / Ginza Line). Ueno Zoo is in Ueno, Tokyo.
- How much does Ueno Zoo cost?
- Ueno Zoo is cheap, marked ¥ on the site's price scale.
- How long do you need at Ueno Zoo?
- Plan for 2-3 hours.
- When is the best time to visit Ueno Zoo?
- Weekday mornings.
Stay near Ueno Zoo
Browse live availability and compare prices around Ueno.
Median US$230 a night across 28 listings within 0.6 km for a two-night stay a month out, sampled 20 October 2026. Cheapest quarter under US$179. See the weekly index for every neighbourhood.
See hotels near Ueno Zoo on Booking.comPrices are for the night of Saturday 24 October. You can change the dates on Booking.com. If you book, Roam Tokyo earns a small commission from Stay22 at no extra cost to you.