Japan 2015: Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan

When I was drafting the itinerary for Osaka, I was contemplating between the Universal Studios Japan (USJ) and the Osaka Aquarium (from here onwards will be known as Kaiyukan).

Ended up choosing the Kaiyukan because USJ tickets were 3 times more than Kaiyukan's. And I have no patience lining up to go on rides. The same reason why when I went to Seoul's Lotte World, I only bought a pass which allowed us to enter the theme park, but not go on any of the rides. LOL.

The nearest subway to the Kaiyukan would be Osakako-eki. From Daikokucho-eki, we took the red Midosuji line towards Senrichuo and stopped at Hommachi-eki, before changing to the green Chuo line towards Cosmo Square, stopping at Osakako-eki. The whole ride costed JPY280.

Depending on where you're accommodating there will be different routes to reach the Kaiyukan, so be sure to check on Google Maps. The Kaiyukan is located in Minato-ku (Minato Ward)

The Tempozan Ferris Wheel

There are ample signs at the station, so we had no trouble getting to Kaiyukan when exiting the station. Plus, we noticed other tourists heading the same direction as we were. Then we saw a huge ferris wheel and I knew we were nearby the Kaiyukan already. :)

We walked past the Tempozan Marketplace to get to the Kaiyukan, which I will cover in my next post.

Anyways, did I mention this post will have almost 100 photos?! #pleasebearwithme

Got so excited when I saw this building! I know I'm at the right place!

the ticketing counter

The entrance tickets were JPY2,300 each.

one for the album! Just realised we didn't tale much photos together ^^
Kristen also blogged about the Kaiyukan here

Each entrance ticket had different images, as you can see I gots ze penguin! I can't remember what the girls got though. And that stamp? They're available throughout the whole journey in the Kaiyukan so as a tip, please bring a small notebook if you can AND GET ALL THE STAMPS!

I had to resort to stamping my receipts and print-outs. -_-

The Kaiyukan is divided into different zones. You can read how the setup of the Kaiyukan came about on the website. The first one we went through was what I call the shark tunnel, because I remember seeing sharks swimming on top and at my sides. Actually there were also stingrays and other fishes.

Then we went to the Japan forest area and found river otters!

Two of them looked like they were snuggling with each other right? But nope, they weren't. You can find out what these three musketeers were doing in a video at the end of this post!

Heehee.

Little tiny crabs!

I wonder if some of them had ever escaped their compound. LOL.

ducks!

Then we entered..

I'm trying my best to show my trip inside this Kaiyukan according to its flow, but then I realised that my photos were all jumbled up.

otter entertaining the crowd with its graceful spinning

How can they not be jumbled up since both my sides have different attractions!

ohai!

Anyways this post is getting too long, so more after the jump!

Pssstt. And remember, there is a video at the end of this post if you're not the type to read :P

These two jokers were having a go at one another:

take that you attention-seeker!

whoops!

a ring-tailed coati, which is something like a raccoon

This capybara was stoning I think.

It just stood there in that position for such a lonnnngggg time.

Okay or maybe it was just sleeping. Haha.

Say hello to our many penguin friends:

dude, your neck ok tak nanti?

peng-sta paradise

The dolphins were hard to capture with camera. They were swimming so fast, but they're in my video!

So many pre-school children on trips!

O_O

These sea lions were also fast swimmers!

I have no idea what these squids are called, but their movements were so cute!

ocean sunfish

I guess the Kaiyukan is quite a nice place for dates?

anchovies!

These fellas reminded me of the ones in Finding Nemo. XD

The biggest area in the Kaiyukan is the Pacific Ocean. It is located at the center of the Kaiyukan, with all the other zones surrounding it. Basically you will be walking downwards with the Pacific Ocean on the right while the other areas are on your left.

The Pacific Ocean tank houses a whale shark, a hammerhead shark, stingrays, other types of sharks and fishes!

look at this!

i love it's smiley face!

Loo Loo's obligating models

too dark, but it's okaylah

So adorable! They must be tired from all the swimming.

wefie attempt with a shark

Then we went into the jellyfish zone. I was so amazed that there were so many types of jellyfishes in the sea!

And they all come in different shapes and sizes!

Some looked so cute and squishy, while some look really scary. You know, they kind that give out an impression that they're gonna zap you anytime.

so graceful!

Look at these!

They looked so magical!

I have them in my video too!

These ones were intimidating.

One of my favourites! So adorable!

The next sea life that I never knew existed are these creatures called sea angels.

Their movements were so cute, flapping their wings, bouncing up and down. I Googled and found out that they're actually a type of sea slugs.

so interesting. catch its movement in the video!

Headed out to where the Arctic area is, where you can find adorable sea lions!

OMG so cute so cute co cute!

awww. i wanna touch those feet.

hugs please!

The Falkland Islands area where the Rockhopper penguins are.

This open concept area is called the Maldives.

There is a pool where sharks and stingrays can be touched! I did, even though I had my worries that they might suddenly snap or sting me wtf.

I think the leopard stingray is just gorgeous!

So that's the end of our tour in the Kaiyukan. There is a souvenir shop where you can buy stuff like keychains, pillows, tees, stationery and etc.

As promised, this is a video I made compiling all the videos I managed to capture in the Kaiyukan so that you guys can get a feel of it. I would like to apologise that some of the clips are narrow - those were taken with my iPhone 5S.

I've never been to that many aquariums (i think this is my second one!) so I cannot rate this. I hope that I will be able to go to the Okinawa one one day!