Brown Bear & Malayan Sun Bear House (Nonhoi Park)

The Residents Worth Knowing

The brown bear here is Amana, a female who arrived from Himeji Central Park and has a calm, easygoing temperament. She is devoted to her water and is often seen settling into a favourite spot to sit and watch visitors as they watch her.↗

The sun bears are Happy and Martin. Happy, a female, is a skilled and clever climber with a sharp-featured face; Martin, a male, has a striking orange chest marking and a curious, occasionally sensitive nature. Between them you get a good look at the sun bear's two signature talents — tree-climbing and that bright crescent across the chest.↗

What to Notice

Give each bear a few minutes and let the contrast do the work. The brown bear's story is weight and water — how the largest of Japan's land mammals moves, splashes and rests. The sun bear's story is lightness and grip — how the world's smallest bear climbs, twists and investigates. Same family, opposite survival styles, only a few steps apart.↗

The sun bears' tree posts and the brown bear's pool are the best spots to linger by; the bears themselves often return to the same resting or bathing places, so watching a little longer pays off.↗↗

Planning Your Visit

The bear house sits within Nonhoi Park in Toyohashi's Oana district, a large zoo-and-botanical-garden park where the bears are one stop among many — elephants, penguins and an otter-and-giant-salamander house are all on site, so the bears make a natural part of a half-day route rather than the whole outing.↗↗

The park opens 9:00 to 16:30 (last entry 16:00) and closes on Mondays, or on the next weekday when Monday falls on a public holiday. Arriving early in the morning or again before the afternoon lull gives the bears the best chance of being active, particularly the water-loving brown bear on a warm day.↗↗

The park's official animal guide at nonhoi.jp keeps current details on the bear residents and the rest of the collection, worth a quick check before you go.↗

A note for photography: the sun bears' climbing area rewards a patient shutter for those quick, scrambling moments, while the brown bear's pool is best shot from the side to catch splashes without a glass reflection.