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By Riku Nagata Tokyo, Nov. 21 (Jiji Press)–The history of Tokyo’s Ueno Zoo, the oldest in Japan, is intertwined with that of the country’s involvement in World War II, which ended 80 years ago. Today, the zoo in the Japanese capital’s Taito Ward is popular among families and couples as well as foreign tourists, attracting about 3.36 million people in fiscal 2024. But it has a dark past as the site of militaristic education and mass culling. In a two-part series, Jiji Press will unpack the zoo’s history based on records and testimonies. Boosting Wartime Spirit Ueno Zoo was established in 1882 as a facility attached to a museum overseen by the then agriculture and commerce ministry. It was transferred to the then Ministry of the Imperial Household before being gifted to what was then the Tokyo municipal government in 1924 to commemorate the marriage of Emperor Showa, who was crown prince at the time. After its handover to Tokyo, the zoo strengthened its role as an educational facility promoting scientific knowledge. It offered entertaining exhibits, such as annual events themed on the animals in the Chinese zodiac and displays of animals designated as natural monuments. During wartime, however, the zoo’s educational function was diverted to militaristic purposes. After the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937, Ueno Zoo hosted events aimed at boosting children’s wartime spirit, such as memorial services for animals killed in war and exhibitions of military animals. In 1939, the zoo hosted a “thanksgiving festival” for military animals with backing from the then Army Ministry. The event included horseback rides for children at 10 sen, or a 10th of a yen, per ride on military horses, as well as demonstrations of military equipment and horse handling by Imperial Guard members and exhibits of military dogs and pigeons. According to accounts, the zoo was crowded with visitors during the festival. Around this time, animals captured in battlefields by the former Imperial Japanese military were sent to Ueno Zoo. These included a leopard named Hakko, which was captured and cared for by soldiers in China, and a Komodo dragon captured by the then Imperial navy on Indonesia’s Komodo island. As a result, visitor numbers surged after the start of the Sino-Japanese War. According to records, admissions stood around 2.14 million in fiscal 1937 and grew by about 400,000 annually for two straight years before exceeding three million in fiscal 1940. Culling Animals The visitor figure rose to 3.25 million in fiscal 1941, when the Pacific War began, and 3.27 million the following year. But the tally plunged as Japan’s war situation worsened and air raids intensified, dropping to about 2.08 million in fiscal 1943, about 580,000 in fiscal 1944 and a mere 290,000 in fiscal 1945, when the war ended. One factor behind the decline was a culling of the zoo’s animals in 1943. Major attractions such as lions and leopards were killed under the order of Shigeo Odachi, the then head of Tokyo. While the official reason for the culling was to prevent animals from escaping amid the chaos of air raids, Odachi apparently sought to “give citizens a shock through the culling and compel them to take air defense efforts seriously,” according to Tokyo metropolitan records. The animals’ deaths effectively served as grim warnings about the harsh reality of war. Despite the order, zookeepers apparently were reluctant to cull Tonky, a female elephant beloved by zoo patrons. According to a memoir by the zoo’s then deputy head, zookeepers tried to spare Tonky, the youngest, gentlest and best of the zoo’s elephants at performing tricks, by sending the animal to Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, northeastern Japan. This was rejected by Odachi, however. The zoo was forced to starve Tonky to death, after she refused to eat poisoned feed. “When I entered the elephant room, Tonky would rise on her feet and raise her front legs as if to perform a trick,” the deputy head recalled. “She remembered that she had received a banana when she performed a trick well.” “When I touched her body, I could feel how thin she had become,” the deputy head continued. Tonky died after 30 days of deprived food. Over the course of about a month, 27 animals of 14 species, including Tonky and Hakko, were culled through poisoning or starvation. Today, they are memorialized at a monument near the elephant house in the zoo. Visitors leave flowers and letters there. The zoo held a panel exhibit near the monument about the culling this summer, which marked the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II. “The zoo has the obligation of protecting the lives of animals,” said Mikako Kaneko, the zoo’s deputy head. “We cannot erase the fact that wild animals were killed during the war. Conflicts still rage around the world today, and that’s why we must continue to convey the tragedy of war.” Postwar Recovery Ueno Zoo began its recovery after Japan declared surrender in 1945. One of its first challenges was securing animal feed, which was difficult to obtain in large amounts, for the remaining giraffes and monkeys at a time when even people struggled to find food. Zookeepers worked desperately to find feed, collecting leftovers from occupation forces and asking local elementary and junior high students to gather grass and locusts. From such efforts came the unusual idea of accepting pumpkin seeds from visitors instead of admission fees. Pumpkins were commonly grown at homes and schools at the time, and many people had extra seeds. The plan for visitors to pay 1 go, a traditional unit of volume equal to about 180 milliliters, of pumpkin seeds for admission was a success. Records show that the zoo’s information office received so many seeds that the office floor was filled with them by evening. The zoo gave raffle tickets for prizes such as piglets and ducks to visitors who gave 10 go or more. Around this time, Ueno Zoo kept livestock such as cows, pigs and chickens to help ease serious food shortages in the country. It also produced pork and supplied milk to nearby hospitals. Another problem the zoo faced after the war was the absence of animals that could draw large crowds, such as elephants and lions. To overcome this, then Director Tadamichi Koga opened a movie theater inside the zoo in 1946 so that children could at least see such animals on a screen. The movie theater, which had a capacity of 400 to 500 people, was converted from a building used as a rest area, with war damage repaired using tin sheets salvaged from burned buildings. Zoo staff obtained projectionist licenses and screened nature documentaries and comedies at the venue. But the theater was forced to close at the end of December 1949, due to stricter fire safety regulations. Still, records praise the theater for “the role it played at a zoo without elephants or other major animals.” Koga continued to create child-friendly attractions at the zoo, including a petting zoo featuring rabbits, pigs and ducks, opened in 1948 to foster compassion toward animals. The facility, named Children’s Zoo, continues today, more than 75 years later. “Animals will run away if you hold or touch them the wrong way,” Kaneko said. “Children can learn how to interact with living creatures, which are different from dolls and stuffed animals. Also in 1948, Koga’s Ueno Zoo began operation of a “monkey train,” a miniature electric train for children with a monkey sitting in the front car. According to records, monkeys acting as conductors would sometimes let go of the steering handle when spectators tossed food onto the track, causing the train to stop. The monkey train operated for 26 years before being discontinued in 1974 due to animal welfare concerns as the monkeys were chained to the train cars. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]