Elephant Day

What Is Elephant Day?

Every April 28th is "Elephant Day" (象の日, Zō no Hi) in Japan. On the 28th day of the 4th month of Kyōhō 14 in the old lunar calendar (May 25, 1729), a male Asian elephant brought from Quảng Nam (in present-day central Vietnam) was presented to Emperor Nakamikado at the Imperial Palace in Kyoto. The elephant had been shipped to Nagasaki by a Chinese merchant in response to a request from the eighth shogun, Tokugawa Yoshimune, and it walked on its own feet from Nagasaki to Edo, creating a sensation everywhere it went.

Japan's 18th-Century Elephant Craze

For most Japanese of the era, the elephant was known only from pictures and stories, and seeing one in the flesh was an astonishing experience. A male and a female elephant arrived in Nagasaki in 1728; the female died soon after, so only the male made the journey east. Setting out from Nagasaki in the spring of 1729, it walked roughly 1,500 km at about 12–20 km a day, reaching Edo after about 74 days. Villages along the route received detailed orders — spectators were not to make loud noises, and temple bells were not to be rung as the elephant passed.

An Elephant with Court Rank?

According to a well-known story, because no one without rank could enter the palace, the court granted the elephant the fourth court rank and the title "Kōnan Jushii Hakuzō." However, this account appears in the "Edo Meisho Zue," written about a century later, and some historians doubt it because no contemporary record of the rank has been found. Emperor Nakamikado is said to have composed a waka poem expressing his delight at seeing the foreign beast.

What Happened Next

In Edo, the elephant was shown to Yoshimune and kept at the Hama Palace (today's Hama-rikyū Gardens). Its feeding costs were enormous, and it was later handed over to private keepers. It died in Nakano village (in today's Nakano, Tokyo) in early 1743.

Elephant Conservation

Elephant Day is also a good occasion to learn about the challenges facing wild elephants. Both African and Asian elephant populations are threatened by habitat loss and poaching, and international trade in ivory is regulated under CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species).

Fun Facts

• The versatile trunk: An elephant's trunk is made up of tens of thousands of muscle bundles, giving it the dexterity to pick up small objects and the strength to lift heavy loads.
• Ueno Zoo's elephants: Ueno Zoo in Tokyo — Japan's oldest zoo, established in 1882 — lost its elephants in 1943, when they were killed under wartime orders. The children's book "Kawaisō na Zō" (published in English as "Faithful Elephants") tells this story.