Tokyo Sea Life Park (Kasai Rinkai Suizokuen) – Part 1
Our most recent Grutt Pass adventure had us at the Tokyo Sea Life Park on a Saturday morning. The place was empty in the morning but looked to be getting very crowded on our way out the door in the early afternoon. Live and learn. If you want to visit a spot like this in Tokyo on a weekend, get there at 9:30 a.m., not 1:30 p.m., and your enjoyment factor will go up tremendously.
Tokyo Sea Life Park (葛西臨海水族園) is very similar to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, which we were members of about 10 years ago. They say Japan is expensive, but Tokyo Sea Life Park is a huge bargain compared to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. The cost is only 700 yen (or free if you have a Grutt Pass). The Monterey Bay Aquarium costs four times as much.
Touching fish, sharks, and rays can be done at either location. Sometimes it is just as fun to watch the expressions on Japanese kids’ faces as they touch the sea life.
Here is a video of the large tank with Hammerhead sharks (シュモクザメ) and tuna (まぐろ). It seems the sharks were getting a bit frisky with their tank mates at this time of the morning.
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November 16th, 2009 at 11:57 am
Wow, that’s one beautiful blog you have here!
November 16th, 2009 at 2:40 pm
Ah, I’ve been there as well, of course without the Grutt pass.
But 700 yen is really a bargain for all the aquariums they’ve got. If I remember correctly, there were also basins with penguins, which is always a plus. Everything is better when a penguin is involved.
November 16th, 2009 at 2:50 pm
The penguin exhibit was cool in that you could observe the penguins from above or below the water line. The penguins weren’t so bright, though, as kids were fake feeding them below the water line, and the penguins didn’t seem to be catching on to the fact that a kid couldn’t feed them with a piece of paper through three inches of glass.
December 12th, 2009 at 2:37 am
People were using car keys as well… but its not ALL the penguins that were fooled… just one or two…
Also, children under 11(?) enter the Park FREE… now thats something worth mentioning…