The zoo's koala exhibit owes its existence to diplomacy and its logo to manga royalty. Nagoya's sister city relationship with Sydney opened the door for koala acquisitions, and Higashiyama became one of the few facilities in Japan to successfully house and breed the notoriously finicky marsupials. When the exhibit opened in 1984, the zoo commissioned a logo from a local artist who happened to be on the verge of global fame: Akira Toriyama, creator of Dragon Ball. His playful koala illustration became an enduring emblem of the exhibit, a small footnote in the career of one of the most influential manga artists in history. The koalas themselves remain a major draw, their eucalyptus-scented enclosure a perennial favorite with families who make the trip to Chikusa ward for a glimpse of the sleepy Australian imports.

The sheer range of Higashiyama's collection defies easy summary. The Zo-dium houses one of Japan's largest Asian elephant habitats. The Bear House keeps four species side by side -- Japanese black bears, Ussuri brown bears, sun bears, and spectacled bears -- a lineup spanning three continents. The African Forest complex holds chimpanzees and western lowland gorillas, including the famous Shabani. Humboldt penguins waddle alongside southern rockhopper penguins in the Penguin House. The American Zone features bald eagles, bison, and timber wolves. Then there is Medaka World, an entire exhibition facility devoted to the tiny Japanese rice fish, a humble freshwater species that most visitors might overlook but that Japanese conservationists consider a national treasure. The zoo holds Indian rhinoceroses, Sumatran tigers, reticulated giraffes, polar bears, pygmy hippos, giant anteaters, and capybaras. The Fureai Hiroba petting area lets children interact with goats, sheep, rabbits, and guinea pigs, while the Small Bird and Squirrel Forest offers a walk-through habitat where Japanese squirrels dart between mandarin ducks and warbling white-eyes.

Beyond the animal enclosures, Higashiyama's botanical gardens spread across the eastern slopes with wild flora, a greenhouse, an insect hall, and a traditional Japanese garden. The greenhouses shelter tropical species that could never survive Nagoya's continental winters, while the Japanese garden offers a quiet counterpoint to the zoo's energy -- stone lanterns, raked gravel, and carefully pruned pines arranged with the understated precision that defines the form. Rising above the gardens, the Higashiyama Sky Tower punctuates the skyline with its observation decks and a restaurant perched 100 metres above ground. On clear days, the tower offers panoramic views of Nagoya's sprawl -- the port to the south, the mountains of Gifu Prefecture to the north, and the dense urban grid stretching in every direction. It is the kind of vantage point that reframes a city, placing the zoo's green canopy in context against the concrete and steel surrounding it.

Shabani arrived at Higashiyama from a Dutch zoo and settled into the African Forest exhibit with the quiet authority that silverbacks tend to project. For years he was simply one of several gorillas. Then in 2015, visitors began posting photographs of him on social media, and something clicked. The BBC picked up the story. Japanese news outlets ran profiles. Shabani's brooding expression and muscular build earned comparisons to movie stars. The zoo saw a noticeable spike in attendance, particularly among young women who had not previously been regular zoo-goers. Shabani merchandise appeared in the gift shop. The phenomenon said as much about the power of social media as it did about the gorilla himself, but it also drew fresh attention to Higashiyama's conservation work and its role in maintaining one of the most diverse animal collections in Asia. Whether Shabani knew he was famous remains, naturally, between him and his keepers.