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Aquaworld Ooarai is located in the Town of Ooarai, which is just east of Mito City, and is about 30 to 40 minutes from Tsukuba/Tsuchiura City if you take the highway. It costs a bit over 3000yen round trip* ,so some people choose to go there without using the highway though that will take about 2 hours each way. If the Route 6 or 354 is jammed, then it takes even longer to get to the aquarium, so I recommend leaving home VERY early in the morning (and if you are leaving home around 9AM, forget it...! Just use the highway because I know what I'm talking about!!!) |
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LEFT: The aquarium entrance and atrium were decorated in "Tanabata*" theme in July. * a.k.a. Star Festival. The ones held in Sendai and Hiratsuka are very well-known. The Tanabata is normally celebrated in July 7th, but it's done in August in some rural areas like Sendai and Nagano. RIGHT: The diver gets in the fish tank with a camera several times a day to show visitors the live (and up & close) view from the other side of the Plexiglas on the TV monitor that is set up outside of the fish tank. This fish tank is so big, it makes me dizzy every time! |
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BELOW:
A specimen of a rare abyssal fish called kuro tengu kinzame. It was caught ALIVE in a net of a local fisherman in the spring of 2005. The aquarium took charge of this fish, and tried to keep it alive. It died about 10 days after it was captured. The story of this fish caught a lot of people's attention here because of how and where it was found. The aquarium corresponded to the public's demand quickly, and put this specimen on display by mid-May, with some descriptions of what the aquarium did to take care of this fish.
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RIGHT:
This "mambo," a Japanese name for Sun Fish, was also caught in a net just off the HitachiPort, which is directly north of OoaraiCoast. According to its description, this is one of the world's biggest Sun Fish.
BELOW:
You can go down to the beach from the aquarium's parking lot. The official OoaraiBathingBeach is only about 5 minutes south of the aquarium, but a lot of people took advantage of the aquarium parking lot to get to the beach. ...and that's exactly what I did because I didn't want to get stuck in yet another traffic jam!! (Thanks to the surfing competition that was being held just outside the aquarium, the parking lot had turned into a war zone.)
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