Himeji Central Park Safari Park — Local services in Himeji

Confusing and quite disappointing, though some of this may have been due to the fact that I cannot yet read Japanese and English signage ranged from poor to non-existent.

First, it wasn't clear how to actually get into the Safari park. I learned (after wasting a lot of time wandering around) that you have to go to the amusement park area, buy an amusement park ticket (which is pretty useless, given that it grants you absolutely nothing there; all the rides have an a la carte charge), then -- if you don't have a car -- buy a safari bus ticket.

And the safari bus was especially a disappointment. It was just me, a driver, and a recording all in Japanese in a big big bus with slightly dirty (non-openable) windows. I could have gotten better pictures aiming my camera at my TV at home watching nature shows. Not to mention the bus runs so infrequently that by the time I got on it, I had barely any time to spend in the park before closing time.

And once there... it was unclear where to go or what to see. For instance, I didn't find any petting zoo, or any way to feed animals (other than giraffes, for yet another fee of course). Yes, I got to walk amongst a bunch of bored marsupials and peacocks and few other animals (which was both kind cool but also disconcerting; they can't really enjoy all that close-up human interaction?!), but other than that, it was just back on the bus for the ride back to the parking lot.

I expected and have typically enjoyed a lot more for $30+ USD at other big tourist spots in Japan.

P.S. -- There were seemingly more staff than visitors at the amusement park, giving it a feel very much like a horror movie or abandoned park filled with lonely spirits from some Miyazaki film. It just all felt very sad and completely unlike every other place I've visited...

This place was amazing! My son loves red pandas and this was the only place in Kansai area I found that lets people feed red pandas.

We got to red panda section early to make sure he got to feed red pandas. We were there in early July. Since Japanese kids were still in school, the place was empty.

While we waited there for watching red pandas, an older gentleman walked by us. He started chatting with us and found out he was the one who was in charge of the safari! He told us stories of how he travelled around the countries to visit other zoos and safari to make this safari a better place. He was such a nice person to chat with! After he left, he had told the person in charge of “red panda feeding” that we were waiting and came to the safari for THIS! So when that person came, he just let my son feed the red pandas until they got full as there was noone else! It was almost like a reserved feeding time only by my son!!! He loved it! During the summer, you get to feed pieces of apple cubes using a long stick.

Normally when we go to a zoo to see red panda, they are barely moving or sleeping. Red pandas there were moving around and climbing around and it was fun to watch.

If you have a car, it is easier to get there and back. We went there using the public transportation. It wasnt bad but make sure to check the...

Amazing place! If you're in Himeji to see the castle then you should also come here. Got to feed a lion ( travel in a cage on the back of a truck into the lion area), feed a bear, feed hippos by hand (crazy!) and hand feed a giraffe. Great experience! There is a direct bus from Himeji station. There is a large theme park with 4 roller coasters and a large water park and an ice skating rink too. Pretty amazing to see such a large...