GIFU -- A model-petting zoo featuring realistic animal models has been set up at a school for students with limited vision in this central Japan city. One student was surprised to find out how long a giraffe's neck is.

The models were donated by Hiroshi Tanaka, 76, from Yorii, Saitama Prefecture. In his 20s, Tanaka saw students from a school for those with low vision struggling to commute by train and was inspired to support people with limited vision. He learned Braille and joined a volunteer group that translates materials into Braille. Through this activity, he discovered that some blind people do not know what animals look like, and since 2023, he has been donating animal models to schools for partially sighted and blind people across Japan.

Gifu Prefectural School for the Blind is the eighth such school to receive the models. The "zoo," set up in an unused classroom, features 27 models, including a 1.7-meter-tall giraffe, a giant panda, a lion and an elephant. The models are not only visually accurate but also have realistic textures. Children delighted in touching the giraffe's head and comparing heights, or feeling every part of a sheep from head to hoof. One girl, feeling a cow's tail, exclaimed, "It feels like corn silk!"

Second grader Ichika Morita, 7, said, "I like the panda's ears and tail. The fur is long and fluffy, and there are paw pads and claws on the soles of its feet." Tanaka, who photographed the children's reactions, smiled and said, "I'm happy to see them enjoying themselves."

School principal Tetsuya Kodama commented, "We are truly grateful that the children can learn while having fun by checking things with their own hands."

(Japanese original by Yosuke Inagaki, Gifu Bureau)