Fuji Safari Park

Shizuoka has plenty to see; Fuji Safari Park is worth carving out real time for rather than passing through.

Fuji Safari Park (富士サファリパーク) is a 74-hectare drive-through wildlife park at the base of Mt. Fuji where visitors observe lions, tigers, cheetahs, elephants, and bears from vehicles that drive through enclosures. The park divides into Safari Zone (drive-through) and Interaction Zone (walk-through with feeding opportunities). The Safari Zone recreates African savanna and Asian forest environments where animals roam freely and approach vehicles — lions often rest directly beside cars, and giraffes extend their heads through bus windows for feeding (extra fee).

The park operates special safari buses with reinforced windows and mesh ceilings allowing animals to walk over the vehicle roof. Tigers and bears occasionally climb onto buses, creating thrilling close encounters. Private cars are also permitted but remain more separated from animals. The Mt. Fuji backdrop adds photographic appeal — though clouds often obscure the peak, clear mornings provide spectacular views of wildlife with Japan's sacred mountain rising behind.

Beyond the drive-through core, the park runs a walk-through Interaction Zone modeled more like a conventional zoo, with enclosures for smaller and gentler species that would be impractical to keep in an open safari setting — capybaras, kangaroos, and a red panda area are usually the most popular stops, and several allow direct hand-feeding under staff supervision. A separate nighttime program runs on select evenings, when the same drive-through route is opened after dark and lit only by vehicle headlights, changing which animals are active and giving the whole circuit a very different character from the daytime version. The park styles itself around the contrast between its two halves: one where visitors stay inside a vehicle and animals set the terms of the encounter, and one where visitors walk freely and the animals are the ones behind fencing — a deliberate switch in who is contained that most guests notice only after doing both.