Adventure World

The pandas are gone. If you've spent any time researching Adventure World in Shirahama (アドベンチャーワールド), you've probably read a dozen glowing write-ups built almost entirely around the four giant pandas that lived here for decades. As of June 28, 2025, all four — Rauhin and her three daughters — boarded a flight to Chengdu when the long-running breeding partnership with China expired. So before you build a 2.5-hour trip from Osaka around a bamboo-munching headliner that no longer exists, here's what this place is actually like now, from someone who's made the trip down the Kii Peninsula more than once.

The short version: Adventure World is still worth it. Just not for the reason most of the internet still tells you.

First, about those pandas

For 30-plus years, the panda enclosure was the whole point. Shirahama built an identity around it — panda-shaped manju in the station shops, panda everything. Losing all four at once was a genuine blow to the town, and you can feel the slight hangover when you walk in. The old PANDA LOVE area is still signposted, and the park leans hard on the legacy.

The park's stopgap is the "Panda Love Club," an ¥8,000 (roughly $52 at current rates) keeper experience where, among other activities, staff in panda-ear caps sit in an enclosure and let you feed them apple slices. I find it equal parts charming and a little melancholy — a town doing its best to hold onto something that's left. Go in knowing the real animals are in China and you won't be disappointed. Go in expecting pandas and you will be.

What's actually great here now

The penguins are the new headliner

Here's the thing the old reviews bury: Adventure World has around 500 penguins across eight species, making it one of the largest penguin colonies in Japan. More impressively, it's one of only a couple of facilities in the entire country to successfully breed the emperor penguin — the big ones from the documentaries. Standing in the cold-room enclosure with that many penguins shuffling around at eye level genuinely beats watching a panda sleep, which, let's be honest, is mostly what pandas do.

Safari World

The drive-through safari is the area that justifies the ticket. Lions, cheetahs, elephants, giraffes, and rhinos live across carnivore and herbivore zones, and you can experience it several ways: on the free Kenya-go train, in a guided jeep, or — my recommendation if anyone in your group has a valid driver's license (Japanese or international) — by renting one of the little golf carts and going at your own pace. Idling next to a giraffe with no glass between you is the closest thing to an actual safari you'll get in western Japan.

Marine World

The dolphin shows at the Big Ocean stadium run daily and the trainers are excellent. Sit a few rows back unless you want a soaking. There are sea lion and feeding sessions throughout the day too — check the daily show schedule on a board near the entrance the moment you arrive and plan your route around the times.

Enjoy World

A standard amusement-park zone with a Ferris wheel and rides. Rides cost extra on top of admission, so don't assume your ticket covers them. Fine for keeping kids busy; not a reason to come on its own.