Shinagawa Aquarium - Make Friends with the Fish of Tokyo Bay

Whether you're visiting with a bundle of younger kids, just one travel companion, or you're going solo, Shinagawa Aquarium is a destination sure to please travelers of all kinds. Reasonable ticket prices include access to fun shows where animals and their caretakers show off their strong bonds, and tanks featuring creatures from watery environments all over the world. Whether you've got an open afternoon in your itinerary, or you're looking for a final morning afternoon before leaving from Haneda Airport, give Shinagawa Aquarium a look!

Sailing Through Shinagawa Aquarium

Steps from the entrance of Shinagawa Aquarium you start on your journey, following the flow of water through Japan and throughout the world. The very first rooms take you along the mountainous freshwater that flows down from mountainous sources at the heart of Japan, following the fish that swim through the clear waters and make their way towards the brackish waters that signal the shoreline. Make it past Japan's rocky beaches, and the aquarium moves on to Tokyo Bay, the waters off of Shinagawa, and the seas that surround this island nation. After that point, the world is your oyster, as the aquarium features educational displays of wildlife from the Amazon River, photogenic tropical fish from waters along the equator, and peeks at marine life all over the globe.

Shinagawa Aquarium3-2-1 Katsushima, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo
10:00 - 17:00 (final entry 16:30)
Adults: 1,350 yen | Elementary/Middle Schoolers: 600 yen | Children: 300 yen
Official Website

Why Shinagawa Aquarium Needs to Be on Your Tokyo Itinerary

Reason ① Get Cozy with Animals of All Kinds!

Sharks swimming past you at eye-level, seals slipping just under your feet, penguins right under your nose, the animals at Shinagawa Aquarium feel so close it's like you're right in the water with them. The glass on these tanks is perfectly sturdy, but enclosures are constructed so that it feels like there's almost nothing between you and the wildlife within.

The Aquarium Tunnel is a good look at Shinagawa Aquarium's impressive proximity. The relatively low ceilings actually amplify the magical effects, and even though there's a 500-ton tank hanging over your head, walking through really feels the opposite of claustrophobic. It's like you're just one of the 900 other animals living in and gliding through the waters.

The Spotted Seal Enclosure is also pretty exciting, with the tank featuring its own little tunnel, and seals swimming above, around, and even below your very feet! If you head back above the tank, you'll find some of the seals resting half out of the water, with their noses poking into the air. It's tempting to just reach out a hand in an attempt to pet their spotted sides... but there are of course safety barriers to prevent that for the sake of you and the seals!

Reason ② Family Fun

If you've got kids in your group, ideal sightseeing includes spots that help them expand their minds a little while they're having the time of their life, which is why Shinagawa Aquarium is a pretty great destination. If you can read a little Japanese, there are interesting displays talking about the contents of many of the enclosures in the aquarium, but even just the basic locations and scientific names legible in English are fun for budding young marine biologists, alongside visual representations that are understandable even without reading the accompanying text. Plus, quite possibly the most important thing for any little ones visiting, many of the tanks are comfortably visible even from fairly low to the ground. No need to be picked up for each and every new animal!

Reason ③ It's a Reasonable Destination in the Big City of Tokyo

Tokyo is a big city, which comes with pretty big price tags, but that's no reason to miss out on fun travel experiences for you and your family. The easy solution is to search for great deals like Shinagawa Aquarium, where tickets are 1,350 yen for adults and less than half that for children's tickets. When you think about the hours of fun and the exciting shows that come included in that price (and when you consider the prices of other Japanese aquariums), it's a pretty good deal.

Must-See Spots in the Aquarium

① Four Different Shows!

You can see the strong bonds created between the staff and the animals at Shinagawa Aquarium just by watching one of their four different varieties of live show. Plus, if you've picked up a bit of Japanese, the shows are not only fun but fairly interesting as well, with the staff teaching the audience about the animals' instincts and behaviors as the show goes on.

The Sea Lion Shows feature the agile antics of these aquatic mammals, who are pretty clever with their flippers inside the water and out.

Seal Shows are a little different from those featuring sea lions, although plenty of people confuse the two animals. Seals are generally bigger than sea lions and not quite as dynamic when the leave the water and make their way onto shore. Under the waves, however, they're powerful torpedoes of sleek muscle.

During the show they gleefully explode out of the water and into the air!

We all have an idea of what the animals in the Dolphin Shows can pull off, but at Shinagawa Aquarium they do it right up close. Watch out for the splash zone!

At the moment it's quite a special time for the dolphins, though, with recent months bringing the Shinagawa Aquarium a series of dolphin births! That means it's also a perfect time to catch a glimpse of these huge, adorable dolphin calves as they learn by imitating their mother, and get used to their surroundings. (If you were wondering why the tank is looking a bit green right now, the babies are actually the reason for that. The green algae is harmless, and the deep cleaning usually employed to keep the tank looking pristine is now being postponed until the dolphin calves get used to the neighboring holding tank.)

Since little dolphins learn so much from copying their elders, the ones at Shinagawa Aquarium have even been seen trying to imitate the full-grown dolphins when they jump high into the air for shows!

The Staff-Led Underwater Tank Shows are a bit of a departure, since they feature staff getting right into the water with diving gear, and speaking to the audience through a mic right in their mask! It's no recording; you get to see the staff talk while they interact with the animals in the huge tank that surrounds the tunnel.

Some of the animals in the big tank are rays and sharks, so seeing them playfully swim up to and around the diver shines a new light on the intimidating fish.

② Hands-on Experiences

Dive right in! Well... at least as far as your elbows.

Get a little nibbled on by the same fish that inhabit the trendy "Doctor Fish" fish spas of the past couple decades. Stick a hand in the water, and you'll get to feel the slightly ticklish sensation of tiny red garra fish cleaning your hands of trace bits of dead skin.

Dig for some pearls - grab a pair of tweezers and go for it, inside a real oyster. Pearls can vary in color, size, shape, and texture, which means you never know exactly what treasure you're going to find!

Since this workshop relies on actual pearl-producing oysters, it's not always available, but with a little luck you'll be able to try it for yourself and find your very own unique pearl. (Taking part costs 1,000 yen, plus additional fees if you want to set the pearl in a keychain or pendant right then and there.)

③ Insta-bae (インスタ映え) Photo Spots

Insta-bae is a buzzword in Japan, meaning something that's bound to blow up on instagram. If you want to take some great pictures, for social media purposes or just for fun, we've collected some of the best places around the aquarium.

Instead of staying stuck in the walls of the Jellyfish Room, the jellies come to you, in a series of tanks that jut right out into the center of the room.

You can even take a picture behind a screen of jellyfish floating through a broad, thin tank that's like a frame of living medusas.

Try for some wackier photo effects in this globe of fish in the same room.

The Mirrored Staircase refracts light like you're under the ocean waves, and makes for some cool photo effects.

The Jewels of the Sea are colorful fish who practically glow in the bright lights of the tank, recreating the backdrop of a tropical snorkeling outing, without having to get in the water (or find a waterproof camera)!

Head to the casual restaurant just next door to sample their Jumping Dolphin Parfait, which features a much more delicious version of the Shinagawa Aquarium's high-flying dolphins. Careful not to lose track of your aquarium ticket while you leave the building, though. As long as you have the ticket, you can go in and out of the aquarium as many times as you want that day.

Restaurant Dolphin3-3-2-1 Katsushima, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo
Jumping Dolphin Parfait: 550~720 yen
Information Page

④ Unique Animal Attractions

Even if you've seen an electric eel before, have you ever seen exactly how many volts it's producing in real time, as it swims past your face? The number varies as the eel swims through its enclosure, but get there when it's lunchtime, and you'll see the voltage jump right up!

There's a fun Japanese narration that goes with the Rivers of the World room, but even if you don't understand the words, the recreation of a rain forest thunderstorm (with actual "rain" drops!) right inside the animal enclosure is understandable no matter what language you speak!

If you adore these tuxedoed birds, you'll love the chance to see the penguins right up close in their open-air.

The Details You Need

★Important: today, we're talking about the Shinagawa Aquarium.★

★1. Shinagawa Aquarium is not the same thing as the Maxell Aqua Park Shinagawa.★

★2. Shinagawa Aquarium is not particularly close to Shinagawa Station.★

Hopefully that's cleared things up, so now we can move on to the fact that Shinagawa Aquarium is actually pretty easy to get to, as long as you don't get it mixed up! For one, you can take a train to the JR Oimachi Station and hop right on a free shuttle bus that goes straight to the aquarium. See all the schedules in Japanese here, since times vary a bit by day (don't worry about the language barrier, the schedules are pretty easy to figure out with a little google translate). When the weather is nice, it's also quite a pleasant walk from the station to the aquarium - fifteen minutes walk from Omori Station and just eight minutes from Omorikaigan Station. This stroll takes you through the surrounding park area, which is due to reopen as a refreshing green space in 2020. Once you get to Shinagawa Aquarium, you can grab tickets right from the machines. Don't forget to check the show schedules, too!

One last point about the location: Shinagawa Aquarium is actually quite close to Haneda Airport. If you've got an evening flight, or you're staying at an airport hotel, and you don't know what to do before heading over, the aquarium is a great option for one last relaxing outing. Stick your smaller luggage in a locker, and check in with staff first about bigger luggage, they should be able to hold onto your suitcases while you explore the aquarium. Make one final pleasant memory before you leave Tokyo!

Feeling ready to hang out with the aquatic life of Shinagawa Aquarium now? We'd love to hear how your trip goes, and see all the pictures you take with the aquarium's animals! Let us know about your experience on twitter, instagram, and facebook!



If you still need more convincing, check out our short video from a Shinagawa Aquarium show, below. ⇩