The Grand Penguin Dictator of the
Universe stands on his rock on high, and casts a scrutinizing crimson
gaze on the proletarians below. Never mind that their average biomass
is over twice his own, or that they will empty the buckets of fish
before he can reach them unless he better positions himself. No, all
he has to do is leer from his rock, and all will bow before His
Excellency's timeless might.
Frankly, it makes as much sense
as our own species's power games. And I'd support this
penguin over a great deal of humanity's Excellencies any day.
This fellow and his impressive
yellow eyebrows swaggers round Japan's most original penguin exhibit,
along with members of half a dozen penguin species. Unlike other
penguin exhibits, this one contains a long underwater tunnel from
which you can watch them soaring through the waves from beneath,
brings you almost to nose-to-beak proximity on the surface, and takes
them all out for a nice long winter waddle around the zoo, for
exercise, when the snow on the ground is cold enough for their feet.
Asahiyama Zoo: like everything in
Hokkaido, quite different from what you'd expect elsewhere. Despite
its site in the suburbs of only 350,000-people-strong Asahikawa, this
zoo has surged from prior tough times to eclipse even Ueno Zoo in Tokyo as Japan's most popular zoo.
Those who have followed this blog
from its early days will recall
that zoos raise complex ethical issues, and should be approached with
a thoughtful and critical mindset. I won't repeat the analysis here,
save that I believe a good zoo (in theory or in practice) is is one
which absolutely prioritizes the welfare and dignity of the animals
in it; followed by learning from them to improve their condition in the world, and educating and inspiring the
humans who visit. So how does this zoo fare?
Though smaller than Ueno, part of
Asahiyama's appeal is down to the unique design of its centrepiece
enclosures – those not surprisingly containing Hokkaido's native
animals, or those otherwise most at home with the chill of the icy
regions. Besides the penguin perspectives, the seal house offers a
great vertical tunnel through which the graceful pinnipeds glide up
and down right in front of you, while the polar bear and Ezo wolf
exhibits let you stand under a capsule set in their respective
floors: the vantage point, in other words, of what they eat.
All this is maintained through
Hokkaido's seasonal shifting. Many exhibits are closed or moved
indoors during winter, though the animals in their element in the
snow are said to become more animated.
As far as ethical conditions for
the animals are concerned, Asahiyama seems fairly balanced. Some
animals, particularly the zoo's most eminent, live in spacious
enclosures with multiple connected environments, indoors and out.
Others I feel could still do with more space or companionship,
especially the big cats and bears. And all this feels possible: there
was much evidence of ongoing large-scale development and
construction, suggesting the zoo very much continues its intriguing
journey.
My visit was dampened by a dose
of bad luck: half the day saw driving rain fall on and off across the
region, with many animals taking cover in their shelters. Moreover my
ailing camera made its disdain for glass panels and odd lighting
angles as clear as the sky was not, reducing my haul of decent
photographs.
The zoo's educational service seems significant. Besides the information on display, the staff convey an
air of tangible passion in what they do, and a great deal of feeding
time excitement is accompanied with long and detailed explanation, in
Japanese, about the animals in question.
And this information enters many
ears. When they say this is Japan's most crowded zoo, they aren't
joking. Even on this soaking Monday morning under 100% cloud cover,
the exhibits and thoroughfares heaved to the seams with people.
Within the first hour of opening, the leading animal houses were
packed with camera-wielding visitors out to the ends of switchback
queues six or seven layers deep – a wait of forty-five minutes or
more to even catch a glimpse of a polar bear, for
example, while penguin feeding time may have competed for crowds with
the London Olympics.
On a personal note, it feels
interesting to recognize that the more I visit zoos, the more of the
animals within I can count among those I have encountered in their
natural circumstances. Like the Japanese macaques, last met in
Nagano...
 |
| How many can you spot? |
And who remembers these fellows? I never expected
that the capybaras I met in Guyana were so beloved by the Japanese.
But in so many shops, adorable big-headed capybara toys line shelves
upon shelves, from the miniature to the door-collapsing gigantic.
Furthermore, that bicycle-flush
toilet at the top of Kurodake has competition...
The pull of Asahiyama's animals
overflows the zoo and infuses the city itself. Its penguins, polar
bears and seals represent themselves with endearing cuteness on city
information and advertising displays, leaflets, pamphlets, posters,
and a fair additional range of places which may or may not have
anything to do with the animals at all. It seems fair to say that
these animals are well on their way to transcending their zoo roles,
and finding a place in the very identity of Asahikawa itself.
It feels calm for a city. Its
location further into Hokkaido's heart than the likes of Sapporo, but
still within easy reach thereof, makes it well-suited as a base for
exploring the island's deeper wilds, or penetrating to its outer
perimeter towards the Sea of Okhotsk – all of which feels one step
closer than from the major urban centres. So too does one sense that
Asahikawa's work is tied a bit closer to the earth: beers and sake,
sweets, furniture, and natural arts and crafts such as pottery,
woodwork, textiles and glassware.
And it shares a proud place,
along with Sapporo and Hakodate, in the triad of Hokkaido's famous
pillars of ramen. Asahikawa's oily speciality is soy ramen,
contrasted with Sapporo's miso ramen and the salty variety of
Hakodate port.
As
an example of Asahikawa crafting excellence, I would recommend the
Juncobo glassblowing studio in the
Pottery Village. This zone is the hub of Asahikawa's arts and crafts
activity, on a peaceful hill just outside the city centre. This shop
offers high-quality authentic local glassware, cute animal themes
among them, produced on-site and on sale for excellent prices. Stop
by the studio just two minutes' walk from the bus stop if you're in
the area.
Alas, it was time to bid farewell
– for now – to the heart of Hokkaido, and journey back down the
southern peninsula to return across the Tsugaru straits. But not
before one last stop, in one of the most important cities in
Hokkaido's story and Japan's alike. At the southernmost base of
Hokkaido was built the anchor which after so many eras moored
Hokkaido's destiny to Japan's, a historical and geographical gateway
in too many ways to count. Coming up next: Hakodate.
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