The aquarium in Osaka is one of the largest in the world and was a no-brainer to visit. We of course thought it perfect toddler fare and would also be cool for us. Apparently a multitude of other people had the same thought. Good god I felt like we went to Disney, and despite the Japanese having quite the code of manners, they certainly did not apply in an en masse setting. (Which also just made it a fairly normal crowd experience.)
Although anything where animals are kept in any sort of cages gives me pangs of guilt, it was in fact super cool. The exhibits are superbly put together as you spiral down around the main tank, viewing it from different angles, to see animals from around the world.
The design concept is called "Ring of Fire", the ring of volcanoes stretching around the Pacific Ocean, so we saw everything from sea mammals to jellyfish, from the Antarctic to the jungles of Equador, and a quite a few specifically Japanese realms. Of course the main attraction is the massive nearly 1.5 million gallon tank that holds sharks, rays, tuna and among many other fish, a whale shark!!!!
Hopper was not nearly as excited as we hoped/expected. I think the crowd overwhelmed him, he was pretty clingy and to be honest, not many people there seemed to care if he could see anything or not. So we spent some sweaty time needling our way toward the glass while still trying to be enthusiastic about the animals inside. Once I accepted that we were not going to get a private tour, it was much more enjoyable.
Hopper's favorite exhibit seemed to be the massive crabs from the deep waters of Japan. I was excited to see Moonfish up close and personal as well as the many jellyfish specimens, and the octopi we saw were just so intriguing. I found myself talking to the guy above, saying hello through the glass and squinting my eyes waiting for a response. They definitely appear to have an inkling as to what's going on. Never trust an octopus.
After spending nearly 3 hours inside, we got what I call museum sydrome, where you start to feel like you've been a room without oxygen and your stomach begs for food. So we went to the adjoining shopping center for lunch, where the ice cream advertisements sent one little boy into antsy-pants hysterics, wriggling side to side, twisting and tensing, all anxious. He was a good boy eating his fried rice and noodles, so he got his ice-shun.
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