Aquaworld Oarai | Ibaraki アクアワールド大洗水族館

Aquaworld Oarai  アクアワールド大洗水族館

Aqua World is a window onto our blue-green planet Earth. Set off on a journey that begins at the waterfront in order to discover the mysteries of the ocean.


At Aqua World, you may experience the mystery and beauty of the ocean. 　Our journey begins where warm and cold currents meet, where rivers merge with the sea, and where humans have ventured into the Deep Blue.


Exhibits Dolphins
                California Sea Lions
                Sea Otters
                Humboldt Penguins
                Spotted Seals
                Tufted Puffins
                Sharks
                Ocean Sunfish


Activities Live Performances of Dolphins and California Sea Lions
                Aqua Viewing
                Sea Otters Feeding Time with Explanation
                Humboldt Penguins Feeding Time with Explanations
                Spotted Seals Feeding Time with Explanation
                Tufted Puffins Feeding Time with Explanation
                Fun Fact Fishing
               The Aquarium Exploration Tour
               California Sea Lions Feeding Time with Explanation
               The Touch
               Sharks Feeding Time with Explanation
               Information on Feeding of the Ocean Sunfish

Hours of Operation
               9:00am to 5:00pm

Narukokyo Gorge (Osaki City) 鳴子峡(大崎市)

Narukokyo Gorge

Located in Miyagi Prefecture of the Tohoku Region, Naruko-kyo Gorge is a great place to hike. You walk a 2.6-km hiking trail along Oya River which runs between 100-meter cliffs. Odd shaped rocks, waterfalls, and caves appear one after another. Cliffs are covered by maple trees, oak trees, and hornbeam trees. In autumn, leaves show red, orange, or yellow colors and make a beautiful color contrast with gray rocks. It is a wonderful view. Ohbukazawa Bridge is the symbol of Naruko-kyo Gorge. It is a 100-meter long bridge near Nakayamadaira hot spring resort, which is one of five hot spring resorts near Naruko-kyo Gorge. Other than Nakayamadaira, Naruko, Higashi-Naruko, Kawatabi, and Onikobe make Naruko-onsen-kyo Hot Spring Village. The village has a long history and the quality of hot water is very good. Geysers gush and hot water rivers run at some spots. Local people harness geothermal energy. There is a tropical botanical garden. Tropical plants such as banana, bougainvillaea, and hibiscus are cultivated in a big green house. Onikobe geothermal plant, which is one of the oldest geothermal plants in Japan, is located in the area, too.

Naruko is home to kokeshi dolls. They are simple wooden dolls without limbs. The Japan Kokeshi Center Museum (Nihon Kokeshi Kan) displays old kokeshi dolls. Popular attraction of the museum is kokeshi doll painting. You can make your own kokeshi doll by painting the face and kimono.

Lake Shikotsu-ko (支笏湖) , Hokkaido

Lake Shikotsu-ko (支笏湖) , Hokkaido 

Japan's northernmost ice-free lake, popular for fishing and boating, remains unfrozen even throughout Hokkaido's harsh winter.

Lake Shikotsu-ko is located in southwestern Hokkaido, west of the city of Chitose. It is a crater lake that was formed over 40,000 years ago by volcanic activity, and it has a maximum depth of 363 meters, making it the second deepest lake in Japan. It is an oligotrophic lake with visibility to a depth of 25 meters, and does not freeze in most winters. This makes it the most northerly lake in Japan that does not freeze over.

The eastern lakeshore near the mouth of the Chitose-gawa River is the center for tourists, and has hotels and pickup points for pleasure boats. There are also three campsites around the lake. On 10-meter-high rock bluff faces that stretch for 500 meters, is a moss gateway, the mouth of which is thickly covered with about 30 varieties of moss, giving it a lustrous, dreamlike beauty. Because of partial collapse, the moss gateway is now available for observation from a viewing deck located at its entrance which opens from early June to late October.

Sekokyo Gorge (世古峡), Shizuoka Prefecture, Honshu, Japan

Sekokyo Gorge (世古峡), Shizuoka Prefecture, Honshu, Japan

Sekokyo Gorge extends about 1 km to the west from the Deaibashi Bridge, which is thrown over the point where the Nekko River and the Hontani River flow into the Kano River. Located in the southwestern end of Yugashima Hot Springs, the gorge is visited by a lot of tourists who come to enjoy beautiful scenery of tender green in spring and crimson foliage in fall. Its beautiful flow of bubbly water has been highly acclaimed.

The promenade set out from the central part of Yugashima hot spring town to Sekokyo Gorge is called “Yumichi (the Hot Water Road),” which local people used to take when they went to the public bathhouse in the old days. Yumichi is also known as the path of literature, for there are many stone monuments concerning poets and novelists such as Akiko Yosano, Yasushi Inoue, Motojiro Kajii and Bokusui Wakayama.

Yuuhi-daki, The Yuhidaki Waterfall (雄飛滝)

Yuuhi-daki, The Yuhidaki Waterfall (雄飛滝)

Yuhidaki is a 30 meter waterfall located in Yamada Town in the northernmost part of Shuzenji Town in Izu City, Shizuoka Prefecture. It flows down in two stages; the upper stage is 20 meter tall and the lower stage is 10 meter tall. The white lines of water flowing down on the columnar joint rock surface, which is typical to this region, are very beautiful. The statue of Fudo Myoo is enshrined beside the bottom of the waterfall.

Double-flowered cherry trees that come into bloom in late April and hydrangea flowers that line the walking trail down to the basin in June offer wonderful color contrasts to the waterfall. In winter, on the other hand, the dashing flow of water freezes to create beautiful ice pillars. You will feel as if time has stopped when you see the sharp tips of ice plunging from above your head and protruding toward you.

Banjou-no-taki, The Banjo Waterfall (萬城の滝)

Banjou-no-taki, The Banjo Waterfall (萬城の滝)

The Banjo Waterfall on the Jizodo River, a tributary of the Kano River, is about 20 meters high and 6 meters wide. Collecting clear stream from the mountains in Amagi, it dynamically flows down with roaring sounds. You can see the waterfall from the backside, from which the waterfall is also called “Urami no Taki (meaning a waterfall seen from the backside)” or “Ryo-omoi no Taki (the Love-with-each-other Waterfall).”

The legend of Red Ox is handed down about this waterfall. Legend has it that once Red Princess visited the waterfall on the back of a red ox and wove at her loom beside the waterfall. As the sound of the weaving loom mixed with the roaring sound of water sounded like a bellow of an ox, people believed that the spirit that resided in the waterfall must be an ox.

With a 1,000-year-old zelkova tree, a camping site and Japanese horse-radish fields in the vicinity, visitors can enjoy bountiful nature around the waterfall.

Fukiware Falls - 吹割の滝 (fukiware no taki)

Fukiware Falls - 吹割の滝 (fukiware no taki)

Fukiware Waterfall is in a Fukiware Gorge formed by Katashina River, and is located about 16 km east-northeast of Numata city.
It is along Route 120 leading to Nikko or Oze.

The width of the river about 30 meters, and there is a long large crack in the river.
And the water of the river falls down into the crack. The hight is about 7 meters.
The scenery is like Niagara Falls in America.
The strong flow of this river erodes the rock, so this waterfall is moving back about 7 cm a year.

There is "Masutobi waterfall" downstream a little.
It has a height of 8 meters and a width of 6 meters.

Along the river, there are many strange rocks.
The length of the gorge is about 1.5 km, and some walking trails are set up along the gorge.
Near the two waterfalls, there are three observatories.

Fukiware Falls is a waterfall in Numata-shi Tone-machi. The name means something akin to 'falls that split and blow.' The name comes from how the ground appears to be split and the sheets of spray that come from the falls.

There is lovely hiking right around and above the falls and it's also possible to walk right up to the edge of the falls. Be careful and stay behind the painted lines though as people have been washed over the edge by sudden rushes of water.

How to get to here

By route bus

About 50 minutes from Numata station on JR Joetsu Line, about 1 hour 20 minutes from Jomo-kogen station on Joetsu-Shinkansen.
The number of buses departing from Numata station is more than Jomo-kogen station.
To Numata, by limited express "Minakami" on JR Joetsu Line, about 2 hours and 5 minutes from Ueno.
To Jomo-kogen, by Joetsu-Shinkansen, about 1 hour 15-20 minutes from Tokyo.

By car

1. Run Kan-etsu Expressway, and exit Numata Exit. About 130 km from Tokyo. About 1 hours 30 minutes.
2. About 18 km from Numata Exit.