Quick note about entry! Tickets are timed, so buy them beforehand if possible! If you can’t, there’s a convenient shopping center nearby to spend your time at. Once your time slot is available, it’s a speedy entrance into the actual aquarium.
The aquarium itself is beautifully designed in that you’re essentially going down a spiral around a main tank (where the whale sharks, rays, and other larger fish reside) while getting to see smaller tanks/exhibits on the side. I appreciate it simply because that means you get to see the same exhibits from various angles, so if animals/fish are hidden from one view, you can easily find them in another. There’s also plenty of seating around the main tank, which I recommend taking advantage of. I could sit for hours just staring at the whale sharks.
On top of the actual structure of the building, the aquarium is also organized so you’re going through different sections of the world: for example, one section is dedicated to the tropical freshwater rivers of South America, with fish such as neon tetras; another is dedicated to the California coast with sea lions; etc. There’s plenty of variety that kept me well entertained for about 3 hours, but I could definitely stay longer.
A great destination for families! A beautiful and compact aquarium with many different animals to see.
It’ll take around 2 hours to see everything. Tickets are actually variable ranging from ¥2700-3500 depending on demand—check the website for more info and to buy the tickets in advance (which is recommended). You’ll then receive QR code through mail which will be your ticket, just come on time, scan, and get in. *You can buy tickets on the spot, but it’ll be for several hours after your purchase (and the queue is quite long).
Getting there will require you to walk several hundred meters from the nearest metro station (google maps directions are correct). The aquarium itself is accessible for disabled visitors.
The most popular attraction is the main aquarium with a whale shark inside (you won’t be able to miss it). Other than that, the seals, penguins, otters, and the jellyfish exhibit are a hit.
There are two gift shops: a smaller one right after the end of the exhibits + another one on the ground floor after the exit and escalator.
We are big fans of aquariums, so we were incredibly excited to visit Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan. We bought our tickets online, which definitely made entering much easier, although we still had to line up before the aquarium opened.
Since we arrived early, we had plenty of time to walk around and enjoy all the exhibits. We were amazed by the variety of sea life, and my favourite part was definitely the penguins — it was so fun watching them dive into the water and waddle around. The whale shark was also absolutely amazing! The massive tank had so many viewing areas, making it easy to get a great view and see the entire tank from different angles.
We even received a stamp to collect, which was a fun little addition that we enjoyed as well. The aquarium is massive, though, and it did get a little confusing trying to navigate our way around, especially when we were trying to find the timed feeding sessions.
Overall, we really enjoyed our visit and would love to come back again!
DO NOT MISS THIS PLACE!! the best aquarium I've ever visited - worth the trek out of the city. You meander through different ecosystem with their respective animals and eventually get to the biggest tank with not one, BUT TWO whale sharks amongst a variety of other fish. This was an incredible experience.
Be sure to buy your tickets online beforehand so you do not have to wait 2 hours for your entry time, which will happen if you buy them at the gate.
Had many really cool different kinds of creatures. Pretty big aquarium. I enjoyed that you start at the top and work your way down. Great signage for what path you should take ask well. There were many amazing viewing spots of the whale sharks. If you are wanting to get a good view they do have more viewing spots of them that are way less crowded than the first view spot of the whale sharks.
