Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan

Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan

The Kaiyukan Aquarium
Date opened	May 1990 [1]
Location	Osaka, Japan
Coordinates	34°39′16.1″N 135°25′44.0″E / 34.654472°N 135.428889°E
Land area	26,570 square metres (286,000 sq ft) [2]
No. of animals	29,000 [3]
No. of species	470 [3]
Volume of largest tank	5,400 cubic metres (190,699 cu ft) [4]
Total volume of tanks	10,941 cubic metres (386,378 cu ft) [4]
Annual visitors	2.5 million+
Memberships	JAZA[5]
Public transit access	Chūō Line at Osakako (Osaka Metro)
Website	www.kaiyukan.com/language/eng/

The Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan (海遊館, Kaiyūkan, known as the Kaiyukan) is an aquarium located in the ward of Minato in Osaka, Japan, near Osaka Bay. It is one of the largest public aquariums in the world,^[6] and is a member of the Japanese Association of Zoos and Aquariums (JAZA).

The aquarium is about a five-minute walk from Osakako Station on the Osaka Municipal Subway Chūō Line, and is next to the Tempozan Ferris Wheel.^[6]

Exhibits

The walk-through aquarium displays marine life in several habitats comprising 27 tanks in 16 main exhibits with a total volume of 10,941 tons of water. The habitats are from the Ring of Fire area of the Pacific Ocean. The largest tank is 9 metres (30 ft) deep and holds 5,400 cubic metres (190,699 cu ft) of water and a variety of fish including manta rays and 2 whale sharks.^[4]

The tanks used in the aquarium are made of 314 tonnes (346 tons) of acrylic glass. The largest single pane measures six meters by five meters by thirty centimeters and weighs roughly 10 tons. At the thicknesses used, regular glass would be unwieldy and would not have the desired transparency.

The "New Interactive Area" that opened in 2013 allows visitors to see the animals up close and possibly touch them. In the "New Interactive Area", 3 zones are constructed, the Arctic zone, in which you see rounding ringed seals, Falkland Islands Zone, where you can see the rockhopper penguins, and the Maldives Zone, in which you can directly touch sharks and rays.^[7]

The themes, displays and their respective organisms at Kaiyukan are as follows;

Tunnel Tank

• Chromis notata
• Siganus fuscescens
• Rays and similar

Japanese Forests

• Oriental small-clawed otter
• Satsukimasu
• Japanese giant salamander and similar

Aleutian Islands

• Sea otters
• Rainbow trout
• Sebastes inermis and similar

Monterey Bay

• Spotted seals
• California sea lions

Panama Bay

• Coati
• Porcupinefish

Ecuadorian Jungle

• Arapaima
• Iguana
• Capybaras

Antarctica

• Variety of penguins

Tasmanian Sea

• Pacific white-sided dolphin

Great Barrier Reef

• Chromis notata
• Butterflyfish and other species

The Pacific Ocean

This is largest tank in the aquarium.

• Whale shark
• Manta ray
• Bluefin tuna and other large fish

Seto Inland Sea

• Fish native to Seto, Japan

The Giant Kelp Forest

• Sunfish
• Squid and other species

Chilean Rocks

• South American pilchard
• Japanese anchovy and other species

Cook Strait

• Sea tortoises and other species

Japanese Trench

• Japanese spider crab
• Largehead hairtail
• North Pacific giant octopus
• Marbled rockfish and other species

Deep sea Zone

• Giant isopods
• Japanese lobsters
• Trumpet fish and other species

Jellyfish Area

• Varieties of jellyfish

Architecture

The Kaiyukan's conceptual design, architecture, and exhibit design was led by Peter Chermayeff of Peter Chermayeff LLC while at Cambridge Seven Associates.^[1]

Notes

External links

• Official website (in English)