Ube offers several distinct ways to experience its landscapes, art, and leisure activities. Tokiwa Park is situated around Lake Tokiwa; a walking map provided by Ube helps visitors explore outdoor sculptures around the city on foot. Other attractions include Tokiwa Zoo, with its habitat concept, and Tokiwa Amusement Park, with 15 attractions. When planning your visit, it is worth distinguishing between these highlights: the park and lake offer scenery and recreation, the map leads to art in the urban landscape, and the zoo and amusement park offer different kinds of leisure activities.
Tokiwa Park: Landscape and Lake
Tokiwa Park is a recreational park of around 100 hectares surrounding Lake Tokiwa. It was registered as Yamaguchi Prefecture’s first registered monument in the category of places of scenic beauty. Lake Tokiwa is also registered as a World Heritage Irrigation Structure. These two registrations refer to different things: the park as a scenic site and the lake as a World Heritage irrigation structure. Together, they offer two distinct but locally connected perspectives on the park area: landscape and irrigation heritage.
Sculpture in the Park and Around the City
Contemporary art is also part of Tokiwa Park: the UBE Biennale, an international contemporary sculpture exhibition, is held there every three years. If you are planning a trip to Ube for the exhibition, check the specific dates; its three-year cycle is an important factor in planning. Another way to experience art is through the outdoor sculptures around the city. Ube provides a walking map that visitors can use to explore them on foot, and many sculptures can be seen on a stroll. The two art offerings differ in both purpose and planning: the exhibition takes place on a recurring schedule, while the map leads visitors to art in the urban landscape on foot.
Tokiwa Zoo: Habitats and Learning
Tokiwa Zoo was the first zoo in Japan to introduce habitat exhibits throughout the entire zoo; the concept is not limited to a single exhibit area. The zoo also includes the Monsta Learning Center, where visitors can learn about animals and the environment. The zoo thus combines a zoo-wide exhibition concept with educational activities focused on animals and environmental topics. Unlike the amusement park, the focus here is not on a variety of attraction types, but on the connection between animals, habitats, and learning.
Tokiwa Amusement Park
Tokiwa Amusement Park offers 15 attractions, including a Ferris wheel, a carousel, and the Tokiwa Labyrinth. These examples represent different types of attractions and show how this offering differs from the landscape and art experiences. If one of the attractions mentioned is important to your plans, check before your visit whether it is currently available: the attractions on offer may change.
Discover more destinations: Iwakuni, Suooshima, Shimonoseki, Hagi, Nagato, Shūnan, Yamaguchi, Yoshiura
For the overview of the wider region: Yamaguchi Prefecture.
