Though I’d been there once before, as a former marine-bio hopeful it was only right that at some point I make my way to the world renowned Osaka aquarium, which I totally did today! It was quite as fantastic as I remember it, even though the famous whale shark was absent. As is becoming common with these Sunday excursions, I’ll let the pictures show the way! …or I would if there were that many. But at least enjoy a few!
Tempozan Ferris wheel by the aquarium
Looks the same as I remember it!
A nice look at the back rows of teeth in a sharks mouth
Apparently, the good ship Santa Maria…Columbus on vacation…?
Indoor rainforest!
This thing is a Japanese Giant Newt. It’s hard to convey here how big it is, but I would guess at least 1.5 meters (which is quite large)
Happy crabs under a waterfall!
It’s also difficult to show how creepily huge this thing was, but it was about as long as me, maybe 1 meter high, and looked like it weighed a solid 60 kilos
Continuing my tradition of recreating old photos….
This guy was almost close enough to touch 😀
A sloth doing some intense exercises
…..Probably not what the owners were really going for… [“make” is a Japanized contraction of “makeup”]
A large section of the giant Maruzen bookstore, dedicated to Osamu Tezuka and Fujiko F Fujiko (who wrote Astro Boy and Doraemon, respectively, among many other works). I just finished a Tezuka bio, so seeing all of the incredibly influential works of his here was quite moving.
Seen outside a cafe, a good close to the night.
This doesn’t cover how I got to pet a manta ray, or how we ate delicious chocolate Taiyaki, or experienced first hand the inconvenience of using electric beepers to notify you when your food is ready, or the incredibly hilarious dance the penguins were doing, or the number of fish jokes that were made, or the Japanese pop star we saw on the street, or the really good book that I can’t put down…but the days are busy and full, and not everything can be covered. Hence, now I say Oyasumi!
Word of the Day: 水族館・すいぞくかん・suizokukan・Aquarium
水族館はやはり動物にちょっとひどいけど、ホンマにおもろいな。。。
Aquariums are a little mean to the animals, but they sure are interesting…
Tommy In Japan 