When Brian told me that he wanted to go to Koriyama for Japan Juggling Festival 2015 (and participate, but later he found out that he was too late to register for the competition), I was excited. Yet when I checked the map and found out that Koriyama is not far from the Fox Village at Shiroishi, I was waaaaaaaaay more excited! Another dream came true :)

After spent two solid days at the juggling festival, we decided to go to the Zao Fox Village (and later Tokyo) on Monday.

We departed from Koriyama station around 9 a.m on Monday. It was a really nice day. I was glad we went there on Monday instead of Sunday like our first plan. We took the Shin to Fukushima station, continued with the JR from Fukushima station to Shiroishi station. It took about 1.5 hours to arrive at Shiroishi station. Sadly there's no bus to go to the Fox Village, hence we took a taxi, which is kind of expensive (¥3,820). You actually can rent a bike for ¥300, but despite the view near the Zao Fox Village which is amazing and the bike rental is very cheap, I myself won't ride a single gear bike up the mountain :)

It took about 20 minutes from the Shiroishi station to the Zao Fox Village, and the view was beautiful!!! The entrance fee is ¥1,000. Beside foxes, there are bunnies, guinea pigs, goats, and ponies too.

Here are some pictures I took there. Ready for some fox cuteness? :)

Oooooh.. By the way... :)

You can feed the foxes (and other animals). It's ¥100 for the fox food, I forgot how much the food for the bunnies and the goats was though, and you can also hold the fox for ¥400! I've been eyeing this white fox since I arrived. But when I asked the workers that I want to hold him, they told me that my favorite little fella is kind of violent. He won't bite, he just doesn't like to sit still. The workers convinced me to choose another fox. Yet, I told them it's ok as I have two violent cats at home :) So here are the pictures of me and this beautiful fox - which I forgot his name! :(

You will need to wear that bright green jacket if you want to hold the fox.

As you see, he wasn't impressed to take pictures with me as I disturbed his lunch time. LOL

We were there for two hours or so. We took the taxi again on the way back from the Zao Fox Village to the Shiroishi station. We got the same taxi driver as he gave us the company's phone number and his taxi's number when we arrived at the Zao Fox Village.

Overall, it was a nice experience. Yes it was expensive (well, basically travel in Japan is expensive), but Zao Fox Village has been in my bucket list forever, which I thought I won't be able to check it as it's way too far from Iwakuni :) But, I made it! Hooray! :)

Cheers,
~Nizar

PS: I believe it takes about 3 hours from Tokyo Station to the Zao Fox Village (Shinkansen + JR). You can always check it at Hyperdia :)