Miyagi · ShiroishiNo.847★★★Open in map →

Miyagi Zao Fox Village

— A private fox park in the Zao foothills

entertainmentThe classic — done right

A fenced patch of hillside woodland in Shiroishi where foxes live loose and visitors walk a path straight through the enclosure. Nothing separates you from the animals, which is exactly why the notices at the gate decide how the visit goes.

FromSendai Station
~40 minShinkansen, then taxi
Get off atShiroishi-Zao Station (JR Tohoku Shinkansen)
From there
Miyagi Zao Fox Village

Directions ↗

Where it is

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What to look for — in walking order

Silver fox in the enclosureCp9asngf / CC BY-SA 4.0

The notices at the gateno touching, no sitting down, no lingering just inside the entrance — the visit is set here
The free-roaming wooda fenced slope of trees where visitors keep to the paved path and the foxes do not
The feeding housea small building at the centre of the enclosure, the only place feed may be thrown
The contact cornera separate area with rabbits, goats and a miniature horse, kept apart from the loose foxes

How to actually get there

Sendai Station → Shiroishi-Zao Station (Tohoku Shinkansen Yamabiko, no change).
Take a taxi from outside the station up into the hills to the village.
Read the notices at the gate, then follow the paved path through the free-roaming wood.
Ask the counter to call a taxi before you set off back to the station.

Shinkansen to Shiroishi-Zao, then taxi: Sendai Station →(Tohoku Shinkansen Yamabiko, about 13 min)→ Shiroishi-Zao Station, then a taxi up into the hills. Sources give the taxi leg as 20 to 25 minutes. The train was 1,690 yen including the express charge at the time of checking. There is no walkable route from the station.
Getting back down: Ask at the counter and the staff will call a taxi for you; there is no rank waiting at the gate. Do this when you arrive rather than when you are ready to leave, especially near closing time.

Directions from my location (Google Maps) ↗

About the place

The site is in wooded foothills on the Shiroishi side of the Zao range. Its core is a large fenced wood in which more than a hundred foxes are kept loose rather than caged — red foxes and arctic foxes on the operator's own list, with silver and other colour variants among them. Visitors follow a paved path through that enclosure while the animals sleep in the sun, dig, or cross in front of them. The foxes are used to people but are not tame, and the notices at the entrance are written on that assumption.

How to enjoy it

Fox-holding sessions are scheduled for 11:00 and 14:00, first come first served and for high-school age and above, so it is worth shaping the day around one of them instead of arriving late. Wednesday is the closing day, and the operator states that its own site is the only reliable source for hours, which move with the season and the weather.

Background & history

The village began as a private operation in the foothills and spent its early years as a local curiosity. Video sharing changed that in the mid-2010s, when footage of the loose enclosure travelled internationally and overseas visitors began arriving in numbers. The rules hardened in response: one adult for every child, no pushchairs, no pets, no drones, and group bookings only through licensed travel agents.

Before you go

Cash: Admission is charged for junior-high age and above, and primary-school children and younger go in free. The published price differs between the operator's own site and the local tourism association, so take the figure from the operator. Feed for the foxes is sold on site and nothing else may be given to them.
Good to know: The village closes on Wednesdays, with exceptions around the May holidays and Obon. Winter hours are shorter and bad weather can close it early. Pushchairs are not allowed inside, and wheelchair users cannot enter the free-roaming area because some of the foxes react badly to them.
Another way: Takeya Kotsu runs a seasonal circular bus, the Shiroishi-Zao Sanroku line, up to the village, and the operator publishes its timetable. By car it is about 20 minutes from the Shiroishi interchange on the Tohoku Expressway.
After you get off: Shiroishi-Zao is a shinkansen-only station standing in fields outside the town, and the village is further up in the hills — too far to walk. Take a taxi from the rank outside the station; that ride is the last leg in each direction.