Small Japanese mole
Amazing fact
A small Japanese mole’s fur bends forward and backward, helping it move both ways through tunnels.
多摩動物公園
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An illustration based on the real animal.
A little discovery to share.
A small Japanese mole’s fur bends forward and backward, helping it move both ways through tunnels.
THE REAL WORLD
The real Small Japanese mole
- Scientific name
- Mogera imaizumii
- Japanese name
- アズマモグラ
- Group
- Land mammals
- Class
- Mammalia
- Order
- Eulipotyphla
- Family
- Talpidae
- Genus
- Mogera
This mole is found naturally in Japan and nowhere else. It spends almost its whole life underground, so it is rarely seen.
It digs tunnels underground and, while patrolling and repairing them, catches earthworms and other creatures that wander in.
Its main home was originally central Honshu and areas to the south, but it is thought to have been pushed northeast by its bigger relative, the Japanese mole.
How the Small Japanese mole lives
They hold territories and live alone. They breed mainly in spring and give birth to young. From autumn into winter, they move deeper into the soil in preparation for the cold. They do not hibernate in winter.
多摩動物公園Basic data
- Size
- Head and body length: 121–159 mm
- Weight
- 48–127 g
- Diet
- Insects, earthworms, centipedes, leeches, plant seeds, and other foods
Where the Small Japanese mole has been recorded
Records: GBIF.org (CC0 and CC BY 4.0 records, retrieved 2026-11-07). Map: Natural EarthSee the records on GBIF
Watch wild animals from a distance. Do not touch or feed them, and take care of the places where they live.
Names around the world
- 日本語
- アズマモグラ
- 简体中文
- 东日本鼹鼠
- 繁體中文
- 東日本鼴鼠
- 한국어
- 작은일본두더지
- Deutsch
- Kleiner Japanischer Maulwurf
- Italiano
- Talpa giapponese minore
- Türkçe
- Küçük Japon köstebeği
Names come from Wikidata and iNaturalist records. Where a language has no recorded name, we use the scientific name.
Sources and how we check
- 多摩動物公園 — アズマモグラChecked: 2026-11-03
We check each fact against its source. The illustrations simplify how the real animal looks.
The classification (class, order, family, genus) follows Wikidata records, checked against GBIF. Classifications can change as research goes on.
The basic data are the values given in each source. They vary with how the animal is measured, whether it is male or female, and whether it lives in the wild or in captivity.
This page was translated from the original Japanese with the help of AI.
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