Asahiyama Zoo Delays Reopening Until Friday Over Incinerator Probe

Asahiyama Zoo in Asahikawa will stay closed until Friday after police searched the grounds last week, following an employee's report that he had disposed of his wife's body in the zoo's incinerator. The zoo had been scheduled to welcome visitors on Wednesday for Japan's Golden Week holiday period.

Mayor Hirosuke Imazu told a press conference on Tuesday that authorities were facing an "unprecedented crisis." He said, "No one could have predicted it," and added, "I am overcome with immense anxiety, and I am facing a crisis of unprecedented magnitude."

Asahikawa City Hall

The city government said the zoo would remain closed until Friday as investigations continued. Asahiyama Zoo had been closed since 8 April for maintenance ahead of the summer season, and Imazu said, "We are making preparations to welcome you, so we hope that as many people as possible will come to the park."

The zoo opened in 1967 and receives more than one million visitors every year. Its incinerator was used to dispose of animal carcasses when they died, and authorities had been searching for the employee's wife after a friend reported her disappearance to police.

Golden Week Reopening

The delay pushes back the start of a period that typically draws large crowds, and the zoo may still be closed without prior notice if the investigation requires it. For visitors planning to go this week, the immediate change is simple: the summer reopening will not happen on Wednesday, and the city has set Friday as the new date it will remain closed through.