Tokyo Fish

Katie saw an advertisement for a goldfish (Kingyo) aquarium art exhibit called, Art Aquarium, being held in Tokyo. We compared our schedules and booked tickets for Monday 9/10. The exhibit was held in the Ginza area of Tokyo. It opened at 11:00am. We arrived shortly after the opening and received our tickets.

The ceiling of entrance contained glass fish bowls with mirrored sides. As you walked underneath the bowls, you could see the goldfish from many different angles.

The exhibit was contained in two large rooms. Music was playing throughout the exhibit and the lighting was constantly changing colors. Overall, it seemed on the smaller side. Especially, with so many people! Even on a Monday morning!

Along the back wall was the Aqua Gate exhibit. The exhibit consisted of several large prism shaped aquariums stacked on top of one another. The lighting added a dramatic visual element.

Smaller tanks in another area contained very interesting looking Kingyo with large sacks under their eyes.

At the back of the room was a huge tank full of Orange Kingyo.

In the center of the room was a ginormous fish bowl with large carp. I took several pictures to give you a size perspective.

The front wall of the room had a very cool exhibit. At first I thought they were screens with projections. Then I realized they were fish tanks with Kingyo and projections. Plus, constantly changing lighting.

Here is a short video of the projections.

The final exhibit in this room was the Floatingrium. The cylinder gives the impression there is little separating you and the highest quality carp, Nishikigoi.

The second room had more goldfish and even more people. We couldn’t get over how excited everyone was for the entire exhibit. The final display with the sword and fish reminded me of Dave’s and my visit to the Louvre to see the Mona Lisa!

This last one was my favorite. It looked like a bubblegum jar filled with goldfish.

After our art experience, we stopped at the cafe and enjoyed a fish beverage. Don’t worry, the floating fish was only candy!

The next place to visit in Tokyo during our Fishes of Tokyo Day was Platinum Fish. Dave’s niece and her son watched a train special and sent me information about a cafe in the middle of two railway tracks. I saved it on Google Maps several months ago. When Katie and I were planning our day, I realized it was very close to the area we would be visiting. It was a cute little cafe. The waitress was unfriendly and unhelpful as we tried to order food. Finally, we gave up ordering food and just ordered a beer. As we sipped, we waited for the trains to pass.

Katie used Yelp to help us find a place for lunch. To our surprise, we were right next door to a craft brewery. Hitochino Nest Beer is one of Katie’s favorite Japanese micro breweries. We were thrilled to enjoy a tasty craft beer. The bartender was super friendly and very helpful with our order. We had a modest pork cutlet sandwich for lunch!

When we came out of brewery, we wandered around a bit more taking in the sights in this part of the city. Before too long, it started to rain. We decided to work our way back to Yokohama on the train and enjoy dinner at the station. We stopped at Luke’s Lobster for a lobster roll before heading home.

It was a fishy and fun day in Tokyo. Tokyo is always an adventure. You just don’t know what will happen or what small little gem you might find. Thanks for reading!