10 Tips for Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan
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| Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan |
I find Aquariums quite relaxing and the fish displays are quite
colourful and mesmerising. When I found out that Osaka had one of the biggest
Aquariums in the world we had to visit it on our trip to Japan! We have seen
other Aquariums in the world* so I can easily make a comparison in how great
this aquarium actually is. We visited Osaka Aquarium in mid April 2019.
Osaka Aquarium was a great family day out with a large
shopping mall conveniently found next door. The above ground eight storey
building was indeed impressive (unlike any others I’ve seen) and the aquarium
housed many marine animals I had never seen in any of the other world aquariums.
You start your journey with an escalator ride to the top of
the 8th floor and work your way in a downwards spiral through the
building. Osaka Aquarium was not as ‘pretty’ as the SEA Aquarium Singapore but
it certainly was impressive.
Educationally, there was information about each of the animals
in English, and some larger displays also where it went in more depth about the
animals.
1. How do you get tickets?
We bought discount tickets through Klook.com. The ticket was a
combined Universal Studios and Osaka Aquarium ticket – as we had planned to go
to both anyway which provided a discount to both attractions. You can also get
a discount ticket with the Osaka Amazing Pass. I would recommend buying your
tickets beforehand as it’s cheaper and you will beat the ticket booth line.
Don’t pay for a full price ticket.
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| Outside Osaka Aquarium - the ticket booth |
2. Was it easy to get there?
Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan is located at Osakako Station on the
Chuo Subway Line. Once you get out the train station its about a 5-10 minute
walk. There was not much signage around the neighbouring streets telling us
which way to the aquarium. We eventually found it though by consulting our maps!
It’s a huge ‘lego’ brick building and hard to miss.
It took us about 40 minutes by train to get from our hotel at Universal
City (Universal Studios) to the Aquarium with train station transfers etc
- yet the Aquarium is very close in
distance to Universal Studios.
A much faster way would have been to use the ferry service called "Captain Line" which connects Universal Studios Japan with the Osaka Aquarium and takes only 10 minutes. Its about 1300 yen roundtrip (which does however add up if you are going as a family). I did not know this then so there is a tip for you if you want to save a bit of time in your day- catch the ferry!
A much faster way would have been to use the ferry service called "Captain Line" which connects Universal Studios Japan with the Osaka Aquarium and takes only 10 minutes. Its about 1300 yen roundtrip (which does however add up if you are going as a family). I did not know this then so there is a tip for you if you want to save a bit of time in your day- catch the ferry!
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| A map of the general area. You can see the aquarium on the left hand side |
3. Was there a queue?
We went midweek in mid April and it was not busy. The general
consensus is to avoid weekends and holidays as this place is very popular
especially with kids. We found that there was no real line (maybe 5 people at
the ticket booth) in April. As we already had tickets we went straight through
to the turnstiles – no waiting. However, once inside, we did find there was a
lot more people, particularly at the exhibits. At times it was a bit
frustrating – there were far too many people for the exhibit window space – but
if you were patient, people did move on and it was your turn to view the
animals. The crowds seemed more congested at the top of the building too and
weren’t so bothersome as you walked down the building.
4. Its eight floors of sea life!
Its very different from other aquariums I’ve been to as its 8
stories high! Once you go through the main entrance you are directed to the
tallest escalators I have ever seen – there are multiple escalators that take
you straight to the top. You start your journey on the 8th floor and
work your way downwards through the massive building. As you go down the
building, you experience different perspectives of the huge main tank that
houses the marine animals. There are also smaller tanks scattered throughout
the building too with different marine life. Every time you went down another
level you were surprised that there was even more to see.
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| The escalators - the longest ones I've ever been on |
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| This is the top story of the Aquarium |
5. What sort of animals are there? And are they well looked
after?
There is an amazingly diverse selection of animals on display
– some I had never seen before – such as the giant ‘guinea pig’ – wow! I had no
idea such an animal existed! The
Capybara (134cm in length and 62cm tall at the withers) is a mammal native to
South America. It is the largest living rodent in the world.
The key attraction at Osaka Aquarium is of course the whale
sharks. A lot has been written about them online about how they should not be
kept in this or any aquarium. There are two whale sharks enclosed in a very
large aquarium. The space is not the
open ocean, no matter how big the tank is. I do not know that its ethical to
keep such large creatures in the aquarium however they didn’t look particularly
unhappy swimming around and I will leave the ethics debates for another day. It
is important to note that whilst they are huge – they are also not fully grown
whale sharks - so they still have some growing to do yet!
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| A whale shark |
The whale sharks were magnificent however to look at – there are plenty of seats you can sit and just watch them glide by. They are extremely difficult to take photos of in one picture as they are simply too big for the camera lense.
There are dolphins and sealions in enclosures too. Again, ethically I definitely do not think they had enough room – however the animals when I went didn’t look uncared for either and they looked happy. Indeed at the dolphin feeding time the dolphins looked like they enjoyed the engagement with the keepers.
There is a very cool jellyfish area inside the aquarium – very
effectively displayed with and without lights. Well worth a visit.
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| The Jelly Fish |
Also, there is a touch pool where you can pat some sea animals
like stingrays etc. This area was very busy.
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| The touch tank |
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| More things in the touch tank |
6. Is it educational?
There is writing in English for each animal species and the
keepers spoke in English too. I wouldn’t say it was highly educational, but
there was information there for you to read about the animals. I seemed to have
missed completely where the information about the whale shark was though as I
would have liked to have learned a bit more. Marine life is grouped into the
Earths regions which is very educational.
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| Educational information at Osaka Aquarium |
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| Narwhal |
7. Food?
There are places to buy food inside, however, we had our own
snacks and ate those at various rest points along the way. There is plenty of
seating inside to view the marine animals. Also, just outside of the Aquarium
is a large shopping centre, complete with food court. I would highly recommend
you visit there on the way back to your hotel. Great for souvenir shopping too!
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| Food from the shopping mall next door! |
8. How long do you need to spend there?
I think you need at least 2 hours to go through the whole
building. I think we spent more like 3.5 hours though as we took our time
through the exhibits. We also did this activity last on our 3 week trip to Japan,
so we were quite tired by then and were happy for a chilled out quiet day.
9. Great for a rainy day!
The aquarium is great for a rainy or hot day – as its all
undercover! Just avoid the weekends and holidays as its very popular with kids.
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| A Puffin |
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| A Sunfish |
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| These are called Lumpsuckers apparently |
Lumpsuckers are often called "dumplings" or "balloons" for their ball-like body. Their roundness hinders their swimming, so instead they use their pelvic fins as suction cups to attach themselves to rocks or stones.
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| It took me ages to get a photo in focus of this fast moving fish. Very colourful. |
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| Some very unusual fish species. Hard to photograph. |
10. Photography
It was difficult to take a good photo in quite alot of the exhibits, as it was very dark. So bring the best camera you can that deals with low light or fast moving objects. The whale shark was a real challenge to take a photograph of in one picture as it was so big. But I do hope my blog post gives you an idea on what sorts of animals, some quite unusual, that you can see inside Osaka Aquarium. There is more to Osaka Aquarium then what I have covered in my blog thats for sure.
I hope you enjoyed my post on Osaka Aquarium.
I hope you enjoyed my post on Osaka Aquarium.
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Until next week,
*Singapore (SEA Aquarium), Sea World Gold Coast, San Diego SeaWorld, Melbourne Aquarium, Waikiki Aquarium and SEA LIFE Sydney Aquarium
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