Nagoya · JP

Polar Bear House (Hokkyokuguma-sha), Higashiyama Zoo

The Polar Bear House (ホッキョクグマ舎, Hokkyokuguma-sha) is one of the signature animal buildings inside Higashiyama Zoo and Botanical Gardens in Nagoya's Chikusa Ward. It is home to Fubuki, a young male polar bear who has become one of the zoo's most popular attractions, and the building itself carries almost a century of history as part of the zoo's 'Arctic Panorama'. Visitors come for the drama of watching a polar bear take its whole body weight into a dive, and to see how the house's white, iceberg-painted walls and moated pool have been gradually improved since a new bear arrived in 2023. On summer nights the walls are lit with projected auroras, turning the old exhibit into a glowing spectacle.