Aqua World Ōarai
 |
Aqua World Ōarai is so much more than just an aquarium. It has more in common with a museum or a science-museum than it does with ordinary aquariums.
Its aims to "display", "popularize" and "research" the ocean have been skillfully linked to the themes of the Aquarium, "the sea and the nature of Ibaraki, the sea of the world and its environment".
This aquarium has been developed so that people from all ages, young to adult, can enjoy learning, thinking and exchanging ideas about the environment and living creatures of the sea. There are also restaurants, shops and open spaces for you to enjoy.
Apart from looking at the fish, you can also enjoy the special shows that take place a number of times during the day. These include: dolphins, penguins, seals, otters, puffins, feeding time and scavenger hunts.
 |
Overview of the aquarium:
7 storey building
Total floor area: About 19,800 ‡u
Parking lot: Passenger car 750/ Large-sized bus 20
An outline of the exhibitions
Number of exhibition tanks: 60
Number of living creatures: About 580 species, 68,000 creatures in total
Amount of water in the exhibition tank: About 4,100‚”
The Aquarium's Logo:
A "Shark" is used as a symbol of the aquarium. At Aqua World Ōarai, breeding shark is one of our main focuses. Our aim is to breed the most number of species of sharks in the whole nation. Sharks are mysterious creatures that have developed to what we know today over a 400 million year process. They are the highest in the ocean's food chain.
 |
The three circles in the symbol signify,
1. "Ōarai, Ibaraki and the World",
2. "The Japanese ocean current or 'Black current', the 'Oyashio Current' and the connection between them", and
3. "Past, Present, and Future"
Transportation:
By public transport: 15 min bus ride from Ōarai Station (Ōarai Kashima Line)
By car: 15 minutes from Mito-Ōarai I.C. on the Kitakanto Expressway
 |
Admission Fees:
Adults ¥1,800 (¥1,400)
Elementary & Junior high Students ¥900 (¥700)
Small Children ¥300 (¥250)
*Free admission for children under age 3.
*Group rates shown are per person for groups of 20 or more. Shown in parenthesis
*Discounted Rates are available for school trips of nursery school, kindergarten (¥200), elementary and junior high school students (¥600).
*Prices include sales tax
Opening hours:
Open from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm (last admission 4:00 pm)
The aquarium will be open an extra hour each day during Golden week and Obon.
The aquarium will be closed from December 28th to January 1st,
4th Monday of June or the next day if it falls on a public holiday,
2nd Monday of December or the next day if it falls on a public holiday.
