Kakegawa Kachoen Tickets

Kakegawa Kachoen is a flower and bird park where the usual rules of both are suspended: the flowers hang in impossible abundance from the ceiling, and the birds, many of them, fly free around you. Under its great glasshouse roofs in Kakegawa, Shizuoka, waterfowl paddle beside walkways, tropical species perch on visitors’ arms and the air smells of impatiens blooming by the thousand overhead.

Meeting the birds

The park’s celebrities are its owls, dozens of species from tiny scops to great greys, displayed close up with handling sessions and flight demonstrations daily. In the free flight zones, feed cups turn visitors into perches for lorikeets, ibis and toucans, while penguins waddle their pool edge and cranes stalk the water lily lagoons. It is uncannily calm; the birds are habituated, the glasshouse warm, and the whole place operates at a gentle hum.

Practicalities

Most of the park is indoors, which makes it a reliable plan in rain and a warm refuge in winter. Bird shows run to a daily timetable worth checking on entry. Allow around two hours, and expect to leave with far more owl photographs than you planned.

Getting there

The park is about ten minutes on foot from the south exit of Kakegawa Station, itself a stop on the Tokaido Shinkansen’s Kodama services and the local Tokaido Line, roughly 100 minutes from Tokyo and under an hour from Nagoya.

Frequently asked questions

Can you touch the birds? Feeding brings many onto your hands and shoulders; handling of owls happens in staffed sessions.

Is it good in bad weather? Excellent, as nearly everything is under glass.

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