Satoshi Nihonyanagi
Welcome to my blog, Green Tea Club !
I'll show you all the beauties and goodies in Shizuoka through this blog.
If you have any inquiry, please feel free to post your messages on it.
Hope to see you around in Shizuoka !
Main content starts here.
02/07/2012 [Tue]
Izu Shaboten Park 3 ― Ancient ruins [Ito]
Now, here comes “what I found” in Izu Shaboten Park ! As I told you in the last report, there are 24 varieties of ancient relics in the park. How many could I get ? The first is this one. My favorite♪ Do you recognize what this relic is ? I call it by myself “a headless giant”. I don’t know the exact name because the guide was away from me by then. Sorry for that.＾＾；
You will thus find ruins sometimes during walking around and this is the one I found on the cactus mountain which peacocks flocked around. I wished I could have reached there but cactus were on my way ! It would be better with the blue sky behind it.＞＜
These pictures make me feel as if I went to South America for real.＾＾； No wonder these relics look so real and well arranged because they were made with an authorization of the Mexican Government.
Now, I’ve reported “Izu Shaboten Park” in three reports and how do you like it ? Shaboten Park is full of attractions such as “Capybara no Yu”, animals, cactus, cactus dishes, and old relics ! Please rememer the beautiful Izu Kogen Highlands and Mt. Omuro of Geo Park always behind you ! Explore the world of Izu and discover enchantment more than the guidebook tells.
Izu Shaboten Park
Access ： 40 minutes by #6 bus from JR Ito Station ／ 20 minutes by bus from Izukyu Izu-kogen Station
Admission ： ￥1800／adult, ￥900／student ( 6 – 15 ), ￥300／children over 4 years old
Open Hours ：
9:00 – 17:00（ Mar 1 〜 Oct 31 ）
9:00 – 16:00（ Nov 1 〜 End of Feb ）
Capybara-no Yu bathing can be seen every day from 10:30 until Mar 31
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“Shizuoka Guide” is our official English blog website for events & sightseeing. Always with you ! ＾＾
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02/03/2012 [Fri]
Izu Shaboten Park 2 ― Animals and Cactus [Ito]
“Izu Shaboten Park” stands on a small hill named “Mt. Iwamuro” right beside “Omuroyama”. Mt. Iwamuro, as well as Mt. Omuro, is also a part of Geo-Park and I just heard that the pond in the park had been made on the crater !
Now, let’s see what’s in Izu Shaboten Park ! It is basically a botanical & zoological park in the natural Geo-site created by old eruption, which focuses on nature and animals in Mexico or South America. You can also find lots of re-creations of old relics such as Maya Civilization there. I passed through the entrance gate very excitedly. They say there are 24 varieties ( 34 works ) in the park. I’ll show you some of what I saw next time.
Soon after you walk in the park, you will see a huge statue of a bird and some pyramids.
What the hell are they ?
Squirrel monkeys came up to me. The guide told me that they were living free in the park. I, though not liking wild animals, tried to take some pictures. Say cheese !＾＾ There are more animals living free in Shaboten Park. Please try to walk on to find and check all animals on the brochure ! Brochures available in English.＾＾ Be sure to dress yourself for it because the park is vast enough to walk more than 1 hour. I here attach the map for your information.
Animals (793KB)
Map (903KB)
In about 20 minutes, I finally reached the enigmatic statue. It is an imaginary object mixed with mammals, birds, and reptiles and they say that it was on TV for Ultraman and The Masked Rider series, which startled me very much ! This is the doorway to the greenhouse, by the way.
ε(*´･∀･｀)зﾞHELLO
“Shaboten” is a Japanese word for “Cactus” and there are more than 160 varieties of cactus in the greenhouse. The walkway made me feel as if I had been walking through the jungle ! Under the pyramid, you can find a spacious area with mountains of cactus. Some of them are of 50 years old, 100 years old and more ! I wondered if they lived forever.＾＾； At the last greenhouse, you can enjoy cactus picking. Please choose your favorites and assort them in a pod !＾＾
After cactus picking, enjoy yourself by shopping or lunch, and don’t forget to try dishes using cactus. I found cactus ice-cream, cactus juice, cactus curry, cactus soba noodle, and cactus hamburgers. I tried the curry and it was not so bad ! Anyway, have fun !＾＾
Izu Shaboten Park
Access ： 40 minutes by #6 bus from JR Ito Station ／ 20 minutes by bus from Izukyu Izu-kogen Station
Admission ： ￥1800／adult, ￥900／student ( 6 – 15 ), ￥300／children over 4 years old
Open Hours ：
9:00 – 17:00（ Mar 1 〜 Oct 31 ）
9:00 – 16:00（ Nov 1 〜 End of Feb ）
Join us in Twitter φ(・ω・ )
“Shizuoka Guide” is our official English blog website for events & sightseeing. Always with you ! ＾＾
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02/01/2012 [Wed]
Izu Shaboten Park１ ― Capybara no Yu ( Capybara in the bath ) [Ito]
“Izu Shaboten Park” is a theme-park located right beside Mt. Omuro in Izu Kogen Highlands, Ito City, Shizuoka. There you can find one of the hottest animals this season in Japan. It’s “Capybaras” and of course they are by no means typical capybaras. Believe it or not, they bathe in the open-air hot water, and funny thing is that their faces look like old gentlemen in hot spa to me.＾＾； They take their time in it until they get tired of it, the very scene you can see in such a great onsen resort as Izu Peninsula.＾＾
Capybara’s bathing time begins from 10:30 – as long as they like to be in. Basically around one hour, they say. While they are munching breakfast, the keeper gives us an interesting description of Capybaras. Of course, in Japanese, though. So I’ll here talk about it in English.＾＾
Capybaras live in South America and considered as a kin of rat. They eat vegetables such as cabbages, potato and carrots, and grow more than 50kg ! “Capybara” originally means “a ruler of the field” and it does look so dignified as the name says.＾＾；
They say that capybaras basically like to be around water but their taking bath is totally another story. Once, they say, while the keeper was washing the floor with hot water, capybaras somehow flocked together around it. He wondered how it would it be if he filled a basin with hot water and the next moment, he saw capybaras bathing in it and thought that’s the very scene of Izu, the largest hot spring resort in Japan ! Now, capybaras of Shaboten Park are so famous and popular as to gather visitors from across Japan ! Please stop by to see them when you visit Izu area by any chance.＾＾
Izu Shaboten Park
Access ： 40 minutes by #6 bus from JR Ito Station ／ 20 minutes by bus from Izukyu Izu-kogen Station
Admission ： ￥1800／adult, ￥900／student ( 6 – 15 ), ￥300／children over 4 years old
Open Hours ：
9:00 – 17:00（ Mar 1 〜 Oct 31 ）
9:00 – 16:00（ Nov 1 〜 End of Feb ）
※Capybara-no Yu bathing can be seen every day from 10:30 until Mar 31
※English brochure available at the reception desk
Join us in Twitter φ(・ω・ )
“Shizuoka Guide” is our official English blog website for events & sightseeing. Always with you ! ＾＾
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10/14/2011 [Fri]
Communication with animals ― Fuji Safari Park―２ [Susono]
After “Safari Zone”, I walked forward “Fureai ( communication ) Zone”. It’s also vast and enjoyable. It took me almost 2 hours to look around, actually.
Now, “Fureai Bokujo” ( communication farm ) comes first where you can touch and feed kangaroos or ride on horses in the pasture. You can also find some members of the Lion King like warthogs and meerkats there. I was lucky enough then because I could see baby tigers, too.＾＾ My favorite is “Dikdiks”, though. They are tiny as though they fit in the palm of our hands but you know what ? It’s bovid, a species of cow !
Meerkats
Dikdik
“Dobutsu Mura” ( animal village ) is a small zoological park. I was very intrigued by obviously vicious animals named “Lycaon”, wild canines inhabiting in Africa. And I found Hyenas as also in the Lion King. It looks……just ferocious, isn’t it ?＾＾； Squirrel monkeys were so adorable but be careful not to get your fingers bitten ! In this village, you can see more animals such as capybaras, alpacas and hippopotamuses.＾＾
Safari Park also has varieties of eating places. 4 restaurants, some snack stands and a bakery are available in Fureai Zone. It’s very nice to walk about viewing magnificent Mt. Fuji ahead !
I stepped in one of the restaurants “Safari Restaurant” to take a late lunch. I ordered the best sales of this restaurant, “Lion Omu-rice”. Isn’t it cute ? And tiger-faced bavarois for desert. All tasted so good, though my heart bled for breaking them apart.＾＾；
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After my stomach satisfied, I visited “Safari Shop”, the huge gift shop beside Safari Restaurant. It has actually thousands of items as you can see from the picture. I found many limited original gifts of Safari Park as well.＾＾
I attach here a PDF map so that you can image Safari Park better. Please enjoy !
Have a good day！＾＾
Fuji Safari Park
Access ： 15 minutes by car from Susono I.C.／25 minutes by car from Gotemba I.C. of Tomei Expressway
Admission ： ¥2,700 for adults／¥1,500 for children
Open Hours ： 9:00 – 17:00（3/16 – 9/30）／9:00 – 16:30（10/1 – 10/31）／
10:00 – 15:30（11/1 – 3/15） ※open 7 days a week
Jungle Bus ： ￥1200（ over 3 years old, w/feed）
Join us in Twitter φ(・ω・ )
“Shizuoka Guide” is our official English blog website for events & sightseeing. Always with you ! ＾＾
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10/11/2011 [Tue]
Communication with animals ― Fuji Safari Park―１ [Susono]
Today, I’ll introduce one of the best attractions in Shizuoka. “Fuji Safari Park” is located at the foot of Mt. Fuji, Susono City, and as its name indicates, you can see various wild animals in nature there.
Now, let me begin with the main attraction, “Safari Zone” ! It’s the very paradise for animals because they can live almost wild in indigenous nature around Mt. Fuji. Accordingly, you tour the world of wild lives by cars, buses, or tour buses called “Jungle Bus”. Walking around is strictly forbidden no matter how brave you are.＾＾；
The course requires about 1 hour to tour around. It’s very nice that you can tour Safari Zone as many times as you like with no additional charge in case you get in there in your private car. In my case, I took a Jungle Bus (¥1200 per ride ). They have 9 varieties of tour buses that are shaped and imaged lovely Safari animals. All buses were full of visitors. I took the Lion Bus. In sitting the seat, I was handed a box with vegetables, chicken meats and something’s liver for feeding, which made me nervous and scared a bit.＾＾；
The bus moved and the driver began to make an announcement about animal lives. Even if you don’t understand his words, you can enjoy the pleasant atmosphere with English brochures in your hand that can be provided at the information desk.＾＾
Now, let me introduce some animals in Safari Zone. First come bears ! And you know what ? I fed them vegetables. Ever seen bears right ahead of you ? It’s kind of awesome !
Next appear Lions. You can feed them too ! The powerful life, how can I explain ? The lioness resting on the tree gave me the very image of “wildness”. It also made me feel scary even in the bus.
Tigers, cheetahs, elephants and other plant-eating animals follow in turn. The might of carnivorous animals and the sweetness of herbivorous animals. Both have the different kind of “wild power”. I felt very congenial when I saw a giraffe walking away into the forest. These scenes always, somehow, remind me of a song of Elton John, “Circle of Life” a theme song of a Disney movie, “Lion King”. I often sing it in Karaoke.＾＾ “Till I find my place, on the path unwinding~♪” What a song ! Very impressive with profound meanings. In Safari Park, by the way, you can see all the members of Lion King such as lions, warthogs, meerkats and hyenas. I’ll introduce them next time !
Have a good day !＾＾
Fuji Safari Park
Access ： 15 minutes by car from Susono I.C.／25 minutes by car from Gotemba I.C. of Tomei Expressway
Admission ： ¥2,700 for adults／¥1,500 for children
Open Hours ： 9:00 – 17:00（3/16 – 9/30）／9:00 – 16:30（10/1 – 10/31）／
10:00 – 15:30（11/1 – 3/15） ※open 7 days a week
Jungle Bus ： ￥1200（ over 3 years old/feed included ）
Join us in Twitter φ(・ω・ )
“Shizuoka Guide” is our official English blog website for events & sightseeing. Always with you ! ＾＾
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Posted by Satoshi Nihonyanagi at 17:41 Permanent Link Trackback ( 0 ) Comments ( 0 )
