is an

aquarium An aquarium (plural: ''aquariums'' or ''aquaria'') is a vivarium of any size having at least one transparent side in which aquatic plants or animals are kept and displayed. Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, aq ...

Uozu is a city in the eastern part of Toyama Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 42,224 in 16,811 households and a population density of 210 persons per km². Its total area was . Geography Uozu lies in between Namerikawa ...

Toyama Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Toyama Prefecture has a population of 1,044,588 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 4,247.61 km2 (1,640.01 sq mi). Toyama Prefecture borders Ishikawa Prefecture to the ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. Opened on the 21st of September 1913, it claims to be the oldest aquarium in Japan still open.

History

The aquarium was established as a venue for the 1913 Eight Prefectures Exhibition in what was then Uozu town of Shimoniikawa District, and was officially opened on the 21st of September, 1913, making it the first aquarium to open on the coast of the

Sea of Japan The Sea of Japan is the marginal sea between the Japanese archipelago, Sakhalin, the Korean Peninsula, and the mainland of the Russian Far East. The Japanese archipelago separates the sea from the Pacific Ocean. Like the Mediterranean Sea, it h ...

. In May 1914 it would be sold to Uozu town. Due to the

Pacific War The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War, was the theater of World War II that was fought in Asia, the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and Oceania. It was geographically the largest theater of the war, including the vast ...

, the aquarium closed in March 1944 to be used as a fish processing plant. In 1914, a loss of power lead to the discovery that the Japanese pineapplefish contains luminescent bacteria on each side of its jaw. In 1953, for the Toyama Industrial Exposition, the decision was made to re-establish an aquarium on the site. Despite opposition from the fishing industry in the area, and several other areas submitting bids to host the aquarium, construction on the original site began in September 1953 and was finished by April 1954. The current aquarium was opened on the 10th of April, 1981. Also in 1981, the building, designed by the Uozu City Environmental Design Office, won an architectural award, presented by the Toyama Society of Architects and Building Engineers.

Shark Tunnel

Uozu Aquarium features the first

shark tunnel A shark tunnel (or aquarium tunnel, acrylic tunnel and exhibit tunnel) is an underwater tunnel that passes through an aquarium, typically with sharks and related aquatic life. They are usually made of thick acrylic glass. Most aquarium tunnels ar ...

to be built in Japan. It runs through the length of the Toyama Bay Giant Tank. In 2013, in the 100th anniversary of an aquarium on the site, a sign was placed at the entrances to the tunnel proclaiming it as the first such acrylic glass aquarium tunnel in the world.

Exhibits

*The Rivers of Toyama *Biodiversity in Rice Fields *Toyama Bay Deep Sea *Toyama Bay Surface Layer *Toyama Bay Giant Tank *Jungle Ecosystem *Coral Reef Area *Penguin Pool

Facilities

*Uosui Famirium *Backstage Corner *Touch Pool

References

External Links

Official Site
(in English)
Official Site
(in Japanese)
YouTube channel
{{Authority control Animal theme parks Aquaria in Japan Toyama Prefecture 1913 establishments in Japan