Shinagawa Aqua Park

This indoor entertainment park is so much more than just an aquarium. Part immersive digital wonderland, part aqua showcase, part zoo, it offers cute animals, dolphin shows and even an amusement park ride!

The first galleries are a collaboration with digital artists Naked, Inc. and feature sea creatures in pristine tanks paired with seasonally changing scenery. Autumn rushes in with whirling leaves…

and as the surroundings morph into a raked Zen garden that ripples and changes with each step…

woodblock-style fish swim through the changing scene in the background.

In other seasons, cherry blossoms float all around like pink snow…

And in winter the snow blankets the carousel of sea creatures.

and a flurry of animated snowflake art is projected onto the bar and the tables filled with exotic fish.

In other seasons, leaves flutter through the snack bar…

and fireworks display light up the cocktails…

before you move on to enjoy the fine jellyfish gallery with many different varieties floating amid constellations of color-changing lamps.

Upstairs, there’s a small zoo with cute animals—sometimes it’s capybara, sometimes otters, sometimes penguins—and vast tanks filled with whole ecosystems.

In the big central tank, five dolphin shows a day blend animal tricks with state-of-the-art water sculpture and projection animations.

Aqua Park is the kind of immersive entertainment that has something for every age.

Open: Every day

Hours: 10:00 – 20:00 (last entry 19:00)

Admission: Adult (high school and above), ¥2500; Student, ¥1300; Children (4 and over), ¥800; Babies (3 and under), ¥0

MAP

And here are the other places I take my friends when they come to town

Jonelle Patrick writes novels set in Japan, produces the monthly e-magazine Japanagram, and blogs at Only In Japan and The Tokyo Guide I Wish I’d Had