Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan: One Of The Best Aquariums In Japan

Located within the Minato ward near the Osaka bay area, Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan is a major attraction within Japan’s third largest city.

Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan

Home to over 30,000 sea creatures and 620 species, this is a massive aquarium. With over 15 large tanks there’s a lot to see and take in at the facility. Each tank represents a different region of the Pacific Rim, traversing through the Pacific Ocean. You’ll see all manner of aquatic sea life here ranging from otters, sea lions, penguins, dolphins, whale sharks, rays, and jellyfish, just to name a few.

What’s great about the Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan is the way these tanks are presented to you. You first enter and walk through the overhead aquarium tunnel. Then you make your way up to the 8th floor and spiral down floor by floor. Some of the tanks can be observed from multiple floors so you can see the animals at different depths. It’s a really cool experience.

The Pacific Ocean tank

The highlight of all of these impressive tanks is the “Pacific Ocean”.

The tank is 9 meters deep, 34 meters long and contains 5,400 tons of water. This is a truly massive tank wihch can be viewed from multiple levels. There’s a TON of species swimming around within the tank. The main attractions being the massive whale sharks, the largest fish species in the world. There’s also some seating locations in some areas around the tank. It’s quite mesmerizing to watch if you’re able to find a seat and just chill and watch for a time.

The Overall Experience

If you enjoy aquariums than Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan will be a must visit while in Osaka. It’s a world class level aquarium and is certainly worth the entrance fee (2700 yen, $17.33 USD). As you can imagine, this is a very popular attraction and you can expect big crowds here.

I went in the evening, about 3 hours before closing (it closes at 8 pm) which seemed to help with the crowds. There wasn’t any line to purchase a ticket at that time and the exhibits, while crowded, weren’t too bad. You can easily spend over 3 hours here so you will want to give yourself ample time to enjoy all the tanks and not feel like you have to speed run through it all.