Meet Punch, the now viral Japanese macaque monkey born at the Ichikawa City Zoological and Botanical Gardens in Japan in July 2025.
Poor Punch was abandoned by his mother shortly after birth. Zookeepers introduced him to a stuffed orangutan toy to provide comfort and emotional support. Since then, equal parts heartwarming and heartbreaking videos of him dragging the plush around have basically broken the internet. And that heart-tugging behavior has brought visitors from across Japan—and the world—hoping to spot Punch in person.
So here’s how to get to the Ichikawa City Zoo if you’re feeling like a far-flung adventure. Punch deserves it.
Flying to Japan
The Ichikawa City Zoo is in Ichikawa, which is in the Chiba Prefecture, just east of Tokyo. It’s part of the Tokyo metropolitan area. To visit, you’ll have to fly into the greater Tokyo area. The two main international gateways with numerous flights from the U.S. are:
- Tokyo Haneda Airport (HND) — This is the closest major airport to Ichikawa, and it offers efficient public transit and taxi links into the city. It’s only about 45 minutes to an hour to Ichikawa by bus or train.
- Narita International Airport (NRT) — This airport is also well-served by flights from major U.S. hubs. Trains and buses link Narita to Tokyo and onward to Ichikawa in about 60 to 90 minutes.
If you have the option, flying into Haneda will save travel time and make reaching Ichikawa easiest and quickest.
Many major carriers connect the U.S. to Tokyo’s airports, including United Airlines, Delta Air Lines, American Airlines, and more, with nonstop and one-stop services to Tokyo. Japan Airlines also offers nonstop flights to Tokyo from cities like Los Angeles (LAX), San Francisco (SFO), New York (JFK), and others.
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Other international carriers with convenient connections include Air Canada, British Airways, KLM, and Emirates.
Getting from Tokyo to Ichikawa
Once you land in Tokyo, getting to Ichikawa is relatively easy. Tokyo and the surrounding cities (and, frankly, Japan, at large) are super well-connected via an extensive public transport system.
From Haneda Airport, you can take the Tokyo Monorail to Hamamatsuchō Station or the Keikyu Airport Line to Shinagawa Station. From there, you can transfer to the JR lines and connect to the Sōbu Line to reach Ichikawa.
From Narita Airport, you can take the Keisei Main Line to Keisei-Yawata Station, transfer to the Motoyawata Station (JR), and take the JR Sōbu Line to Ichikawa Station. Or you can take a JR train from Narita Airport to Chiba Station and transfer to the JR Sōbu Line toward Tokyo, and hop off at Ichikawa Station.
Either way, you’ll want a Suica card for convenient travel. It works on almost all trains, subways, and buses in Japan, so you can tap in and out without buying separate tickets for each leg of your journey. You can even add it to your digital wallet for easy access. (Carry some cash just in case for longer-haul journeys and reserved trains, but a Suica card will cover most fares.)
Make sure to pay attention to reserved seating on some trains. Some trains have red and green lights above the seats to indicate whether or not they’re taken or free. However, local and commuter trains are generally unreserved.
Visiting Ichikawa City Zoo
Here’s what you need to know before you visit the Ichikawa City Zoo.
The address of the zoo is 284-1 Omachi, Ichikawa City, 272-0801. If you need help locating it and have a Japanese sim card or the ability to call, you can reach the zoo at 047-338-1960 (add +81 for Japan’s country code if you’re calling from an international number).
The zoo is open from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. (entry until 4 p.m.) Tuesday through Sunday. It is closed every Monday and on public holidays.
Adults pay 440 yen (tax included), and children’s tickets cost 110 yen (tax included). That’s about $2.80 and .70¢, respectively. Preschool-aged children can visit for free. There is also a group discount of 20 percent if you’re rolling at least 25 people deep (reservations required).
You can find more information about the zoo’s hours of operation and ticket pricing here.
Finding Punch, the Monkey
At the Ichikawa City Zoo, Punch lives in the monkey enclosure—an area usually referred to as the “Monkey Mountain” or macaque group enclosure, where Japanese macaques (snow monkeys) are kept. This is where visitors can see Punch interacting with the other monkeys (when he’s not being iced out) and carrying his nearly constant companion.
Because the zoo is operated by Ichikawa City, its focus is on education, conservation, and welfare. But, of course, zoos are still unnatural habitats for these animals.
It’s important to be respectful of the animals living there. Even though Punch is adorable, don’t try to touch, feed him, or call out to him. Avoid tapping on glass, banging on enclosures, making loud noises, or using a camera flash, which can stress out Punch and the pals he’s desperately trying to make.
After all, Punch needs more love, not more tough times. So, if you’re going to make the long journey to Japan to pay Punch a visit, pay him some respect, too.
