Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Kaiyukan Aquarium

Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan (海遊館 Kaiyūkan) is one of the largest aquariums in the world. It is located in the ward of Minato in Osaka, Japan, near the Osaka Bay.

The walk-through aquarium displays several habitats in 14 tanks, along with the marine life inside them. The habitats are from the Ring of Fire and the Ring of Life areas of the Pacific Ocean. The largest tank holds 5,400 cubic metres of water and houses a whale shark.

The tanks used in the aquarium are made of 314 tonnes of acrylic - roughly 1.5 times the world's annual production. The largest single pane measures six meters by five meters by thirty centimeters and weighs roughly 10 tonnes. At the thicknesses used, regular glass would not only be unwieldy, but would not have a desirable amount of transparency.

Kaiyukan is located five minutes' walk from Osakako Station on the Osaka Municipal Subway Chuo Line.