Zao Fox Village is located about 30 minutes south of Zao. It is a beautiful drive in the fall with the changing leaves and the rolling hills.
You know you are in the right place when you are greeted by a very large Godzilla at the base of the stairs.
After you pay the admission fee, you are handed a sheet with the rules (offered in Japanese and English). Once you read the rules and hand the sheet back, you will be allowed to enter the Village.
Now, what the rules basically say is don't be stupid. The foxes are wild animals and as long as you are aware of your surroundings, you will be fine.
Upon entering the Village, you are greeted by this lovely illustrated sign. (No, we did not have any trouble, but no one can say you weren't warned).
After admiring the sign, you can either go left (towards the petting zoo) or right (into the open fox area.
And as the name implies, there are a lot of foxes in the Village. Most were curled up in a ball and content to watch you walk by, unless you get too close, then they would get up and walk away.
There were a few different species of foxes, but all of the signs were in Japanese, so I could not read their names.
We stumbled upon this fox and stopped for a photo.
Trust us, she was a normal sized fox, she is just way closer to the camera than Erica was.
We walked around for a while, heeding the warning of "watch your rear". We did our best to not disturb the foxes and just enjoy the quiet of the Village. We were at the Village in the morning right when they opened, so there were not many people there with us.
Gotta love English translations.
A photo opp for our mothers.
Erica matched the red paint of the shrine.
Here are the last few pictures of foxes for the day, I promise.
Besides the Fox Village, there is also a petting zoo. The zoo has goats, two miniature horses, rabbits, a badger, and some species of hare.
We had a good time at the Village and if you find yourself in the area, you should check it out!