Tricked you again! You forgot Naked is a group of artist specializing in flowers! Ha! I saw an advertisement for the special Sakura Aquarium exhibit by Naked at the Aqua Park, Shinagawa on the train earlier this month. Fish and flowers seemed like a perfect adventure for a rainy Monday. I took the 9:03 train from Jimmuji to Shinagawa Station. The Aqua Park was about a five minute walk from the station. I arrived shortly after 10am.
The Aqua Park had self-serve kiosks where I easily purchased my ¥2,200 ticket (about $20). The entrance was decorated nicely with Sakura.
There were several smaller tanks with tropical fish that were also decorated with a Sakura theme.
The jelly tanks were my favorite! The lights were set to very soothing music and changed as you walked through!
What was most interesting about the experience was the smell. Aquariums I have visited typically have a saltwater, fishy smell. Not here. It smelled like flowers and kettle corn!
The Sakura exhibit ended with the jellies. The route through the aquarium continued upstairs. I walked up to the second level and was encouraged by one of the workers to take a seat in the water stadium for the dolphin show. (I’m assuming she said that, anyways. She only spoke to me in Japanese and swept her arm into the stadium as I passed through the doors.)
Hmmmm… dolphin show. I struggle with this one a lot and honestly, I’m not a big fan. I contemplated staying for the show or leaving. I ended up staying and rationalizing I had already paid the admission to the Aqua Park and the show was included.
The dolphins and porpoises were beautiful to watch. They splashed the first four rows of spectators several times. I can only hope the beautiful sea mammals found this enjoyable.
I really struggle with ecotourism. Keeping animals captive doesn’t seem right. However, aren’t aquariums and zoos an important part of learning about science for kids? The Aqua Park is a privately owned aquarium. I want to tell myself the animals are well taken care of and not suffering. Regardless, they are in captivity and that makes me sad.
The show lasted 12 minutes. Afterwards, I finished walking through the very crowded aquarium. Keep in mind this was on a Monday morning!
I passed a few more cute creatures on my way out.
Can you find the lizard?
How about here?
Look at the spike on the snake’s face!
Piranha.
This definitely doesn’t need to be on the list when you visit. It pales in comparison to The Shedd Aquarium in Chicago or The National Aquarium in Baltimore. I went for the Sakura Aquarium by Naked exhibit. It was lovely, relaxing and smelled amazing! Perhaps, I should have left after the jellies exhibit!!