Best Of 2024: A Trip To Machida, The Real-Life 'Pallet Town' That Inspired Pokémon by Tokyo Game Life (Nintendo Life)
[Machida's] most famous tourist attraction is not Pokémon-related at all. Machida Squirrel Garden is a small petting zoo that features over two hundred squirrels that live in colourfully painted houses. You can even feed and pet the squirrels, though don’t be surprised if they dart off after filling their bellies.

According to animal cafes[dot]com, the Machida Squirrel Garden not only hosts “[h]undreds of adventurous squirrels,” but also “a guinea pig village housing at least a hundred guinea pigs, and some fenced-in pens inhabited by rabbits, small tortoises, chipmunks, and prairie dogs.” [animalcafes.com] I’m sold.

(PS: Don’t tell the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation about this place.)