Elephants in Japan

Elephants in Japan is a global nonprofit organization works to expose and improve the living conditions of captive zoo elephants in Japan who need help most.

Our Story: Torn away from her family in Thailand as a baby in 1949, Hanako the elephant (RIP, 2016) was forced to live most of her 69 years alone, in a small concrete enclosure in a Tokyo zoo. She had no soft dirt or grass to stand on or freedom to roam. She was deprived of any true, lasting companionship—which is crucial to an elephant’s overall well-being. Sadly, Hanako died on May 27, 2016—right as a global campaign had taken off, to help improve her conditions. We wish there was more we could have done for Hanako, much much sooner. But we will also work to ensure that Hanako’s legacy will be to inspire her fans in Japan and elsewhere to better educate themselves on elephant welfare and work to expose and improve the living conditions of the many other captive zoo elephants who need us.