Let squirrels take seeds from your palm
At a few parks in Japan you can feed squirrels by hand: hold out sunflower seeds on your palm or a glove, and they come right up to take them one by one. Some species hibernate, so a few places open only in the warmer months; check the season before you go.
A garden of mountain wildflowers in the Takayama area of Gifu, with a fenced squirrel forest that you step inside and hold out sunflower seeds on a cotton work glove. Japanese chipmunks and Ezo squirrels, a red squirrel from Hokkaido with tufted ears, come to eat. It is open from mid-March to late November.
About 200 Taiwan squirrels run free in a wooded enclosure in Machida, on the western edge of Tokyo. Put on the thick gloves lent at the entrance and hold out sunflower seeds, and they climb up to take them. Long sleeves and trousers are recommended, and the squirrels come closer soon after opening, before the weekend crowds have filled them up.
Near the summit station of the ropeway up Mount Kinka in Gifu city, the hill crowned by Gifu Castle, Taiwan squirrels live in an enclosure and come close to eat the food you give them. It makes a nice break after the ride up, and it is open all year. Gifu is about 20 minutes from Nagoya by train.
On the summit of Mount Tengu above Otaru, Hokkaido, reached by ropeway, a small park lets you feed chipmunks, with views over the town and the sea. Chipmunks hibernate in winter, so the park opens only from about late May to early October.