I thought I’d died and gone to heaven when I finally made it to Zao Fox Village last spring, but it’s a good thing I didn’t actually shuffle off this mortal coil due to fox-induced bliss, because then I would have missed seeing all these fluffy vixen in the SNOW!
This is just the first installment of fox-centric posts, because the second I walked through the Fox Village gate, my camera was possessed by some sort of snap-happy demon, and it took HUNDREDS of pictures all by itself. I’m still wading through them, and will post more soon!
If you’d like to go to Fox Village, detailed directions are here. Getting there is a major schlep (two hours by bullet train from Tokyo, then a ¥5000 each way taxi ride), and sometimes the roads aren’t passable in the winter because of snow. Be sure to check the weather forecast and the Fox Village website before you leave, because it would be terrible to get all the way to Shiroishizao and NO NO NO SO CLOSE AND YET SO FAR AIEEEEE!
*Update: Since the pandemic, visitors are no longer allowed to feed the foxes, but you can still roam around among them throughout the rest of the compound.
And just in case you haven’t gotten enough foxes yet…
Fox Village Videos are here
and
How To Go To Zao Fox Village is here!
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The Last Tea Bowl Thief was chosen as an Editor’s Pick for
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Jonelle Patrick writes novels set in Japan, produces the monthly e-magazine Japanagram, and blogs at Only In Japan and The Tokyo Guide I Wish I’d Had
Only In Japan 
Do the foxes get healthy fox food?
I didn’t ask what they’re fed, but the animals all looked fat and healthy, so I’m guessing that the people who take care of the foxes do a pretty good job of giving them the kind of food that suits their needs. The fox snacks they sell to visitors are some sort of kibble, but not anything I recognized (not surprising, since I only know American pet foods.)
Interestingly enough, the pet owners I know here feed their dogs and cats differently than most American pet owners I know. In Japan, they think their animals should have a mix of protein, veggies and rice, not just meat. (Of course, I don’t know anybody anywhere who keeps foxes, so your guess is as good as mine what they ought to have!)
I’m soooo jealous.
But you can go! Easily! Just two hours by shinkansen from Tokyo, then a cab.
I want to gooooooo!
Wow, they are unbelievably cute. I need to go to Japan. lol
And when you do, I’m looking forward to reading your blog posts about it! Because this place is all kinds of wtf, all the time!
Sounds like a place I need to be haha
And I want you to go, so you can write about it and I can read YOUR blog post!
1) What do the foxes SAY?
2) Do they do barrel (alieron) rolls?
3) Where can I find these foxes and
4) can I roll around them like Peter Griffin in a pile of puppies?
The foxes sound like babies crying! It’s really weird. And while you can’t roll around among them like a pile of puppies, you CAN go into the fox habitat and walk around among them (unlike at American zoos, where some idiot would naturally do something stupid/dangerous/actionable on the very first day and ruin it for everyone.)
The foxes aren’t tame, though, so the closest I got to them was when one curious fellow came up to check out my boots last spring. If you’re really serious about going, I posted detailed directions last spring, the first time I went. They’re here: https://jonellepatrick.me/2015/06/06/zao-fox-village-squeeee-capital-of-the-world/ It’s a commitment, though, because it’s really in utter, utter, bf Idaho.
I’m as serious as someone can be about going to a village full of foxes lol. We’re going to be on land for the rest of the year (minus like two weeks spread over two months) so I want to get as much culture in as I can. Fox Village is a new bullet point for me (under Kyoto and Osaka, which are apparently really close together). 😀