The botanical garden consists of eight greenhouses; we cultivate and exhibit tropical flower trees such as Bougainvillea, Hibiscus, Cattleya, Jade Vine, Bromelia, progenitor orchid, and Victoria Amazonica.
Especially, greenhouse No. 7 is highly evaluated due to a variety of tropical lilies and advanced cultivation techniques, so it is ranked as one of the world’s best tropical lily exhibition facilities. You can see more than 60 types of water lilies throughout the year.
In the botanical garden, you can also see a very rare Amazon Manatee, also referred to as the legendary Amazon mermaid.
There are other aquariums that raise manatees, but this is the only place in Japan where an Amazon Manatee is being raised and can be seen.
We’ve been raising him for about 50 years, and this is a record that we are continually adding to.
He is 2.4m long and weighs 300kg.
One of the characteristics of Amazon Manatees is patchy pattern on the belly.
You can observe the patches as he swims towards the water surface, as he breathes once every few minutes,
Every morning at 10:30 am and at 2:00 pm visitors can see him be fed and take a class for studying Manatees called “Naze Naze Class”.
Manatees, akin to elephants, are the largest herbivorous animals, living in the water.
The manatee here eats vegetables such as Chinese cabbage, carrots and aquatic plants.
He looks very cute when choosing food with his whiskers (sensitive hair), and when he starts to eat his favorite foods; this is very popular among visitors.
It takes about 2 hours to finish one meal.
Also, at the Naze Naze class, our staff members will show you why Amazon Manatees are so special. (※ Please make a reservation at the ticket office as it is a first-come-first-served basis.)
