History
Dōbutsuen-mae Station opened on 21 April 1938 with the southward extension of Osaka Subway Line 1 (today's Midōsuji Line) from Namba to Tennōji. (During planning the stop was successively called Minami-Kasumichō, then Tennōji-Kōen, before the present name was authorised by Ministry approval on 22 March 1938.) The Sakaisuji Line opened on 6 December 1969 with this station as its initial terminus; on 4 March 1993 that line was extended to Tengachaya. Midōsuji Line platforms were lengthened by 20 m towards Tennōji in March 1990 to handle 10-car trains, and Exit 7 was closed on 1 June 2012. Operations were transferred to Osaka Metro on 1 April 2018 at the municipal-transport privatisation. Platform-edge doors entered service on 22 January 2022 on the Midōsuji Line platforms and on 28 August 2022 on the Sakaisuji Line.
History summarized from Japanese & English Wikipedia · last reviewed 2026-05-24.
Notes
Although the station is named for Tennōji Zoo, most zoo visitors actually enter from neighbouring Tennōji Station's north-west gate; Dōbutsuen-mae functions chiefly as an interchange between the Midōsuji and Sakaisuji Lines. The Midōsuji Line platform walls are decorated with animal illustrations.