We have been to a lot of aquariums around the world and this rates up there as one of the best. Definitely get there early to avoid ticket queues. It was busy inside but easy enough to navigate. Very clean. The displays were amazing and many of the animals were being fed around 10am-10:30 so great photo opportunities. We purchased the stamp books after you enter, definitely worth it for the kids they really loved finding all the stamps.

While the aquarium was impressive with its wide variety of species I couldn’t help but be extremely disappointed with the living conditions of most of the larger animals. I was extremely saddened to see how the arctic sea lions were living. Barely any tank space, absolutely zero enrichment and the outside of the water area was white painted concrete with not an ounce of environment. The penguins right after that were in the same place that were in a tiny open exhibit in a warm room that barely looks like it’s apart of the aquarium. For such an institution of a place you would hope they had better facilities for these animals.

It’s a great side visit (not so much of a main itinerary). As I entered I thought the enclosures where kinda small. But as I walked on I realised I was walking down the floors and the tanks where 8 floors deeps. It was a great experience. Highly recommended if you have extra days. Expect young families with toddlers. But it was not a bother for me. They were well behaved. I don’t think it’s a must-visit because you can get the same experience in other aquariums around the world. But if you are traveling with kids they would love it. As a solo traveler I spent a good 2 hours there. And finished it off with a meal at the food court. The surrounding port area was nice too.

Its a good aquarium visit but nothing amazing. Their main attraction is the large tank in the middle with the whale sharks. My biggest disappointment is the minimal info they provide on the different species they have there. Wish they did a better job of that so that I could learn a little more about what I was looking at.

We visited the Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan on Feb. 24 while visiting from California. Myself, husband and teenage son all really enjoyed the visit. It was a fun relaxing time, it wasn’t too crowded and beautiful marine life from around the world.

The aquarium was large with many different fish and water animals on display. While it was interesting to see so many different creatures, I felt sorry to see them in captivity and not their natural environments. Perhaps my entrance money would have been better spent on keeping these poor creatures out of captivity.

It will look at first glance like an oddly shaped red and blue building but it is actually the Osaka Kaiyukan which contains within it an aquarium. It is a very popular tourist destination and on the day we visited, we arrived during midday without having booked a ticket only to be told that we had to wait until 4 PM before there is space for us to go into the Kaiyukan. There is thankfully the Tempozan shopping center nearby to kill sometime. Entering the Kaiyukan, the visitor is first directed to the topmost floor and they slowly travel downwards as they explore the contents of the aquarium. Various marine wildlife are on display here but the highlight and the "Stars" of the aquarium is the giant aquarium in the middle of the Kaiyukan containing two giant whale sharks. I daresay that the dark settings add to the atmosphere of looking at these animals in the aquarium. It can get very crowded during the holiday period with lots of kids running around and people bustling through but overall the locals are very orderly. If anything it's the tourists that are disorderly who would not hesitate to elbow people out of the way or use their kids as shields to push in ahead to people. It does take quite a while to go around Kaiyukan and take in the view of the animals. Having gotten in at 4 PM and still having other things to do in the itinerary, we decided to travel around Kaiyukan as quickly as possible and it still took us 2 hours. It would not be surprising at all that it would take people a whole day to complete their visit if they had gone with a more leisurely place. There is a cafe for visitors to grab a rest and some snacks while they are at it with views of Osaka Bay. At the end of Kaiyukan there are two souvenir shops. The first one is the smaller souvenir shop, the second one is the larger one and on the same level at Starbucks. Once the sun has gone down there are light features that you can take pictures next to. I think Kaiyukan is well worth the visit when one is visiting Osaka. It's my second visit to the place and it is still a great place. My first visit made such an impression on me that other aquariums has never been as impressive as the visit here. The only difference with my first visit is that the "Hands on" section where you can touch some of the animals has been removed.

If you want to experience various sea creatures when you travel to Osaka, I recommend you to go there at least once. Especially, the order of viewing the aquarium was very attractive. You can see creatures that live at a certain depth in the form of viewing that gradually goes down. But there is also a problem. Some intelligent creatures, such as penguins, dolphins, seals, and whale sharks, are huddling in narrow tanks that do not fit their size. It can be fun for some, but unpleasant for others, for dolphins to do a show at the behest of a trainer in a tank. In fact, many countries have banned the use or confinement of intelligent animals in shows. If the purpose of visiting here is to educate children about sea life, I recommend not to go. They can see the creatures in the aquarium, feel the sea, and see them wonderfully, but it can naturally instill in children the idea that animals are a human's toys, which are animals can be consumed.

World class aquarium, a must visit place if you are Osaka. Not only the outside of this aquarium (entrance) is very colorful and inviting, the aquarium itself is just amazing. The collection of fish, school of fish, crabs etc. is just too good. I have been to other aquariums before but this aquarium even houses species that lot of other aquariums don't. I could just keep starring at one display and feel like I was meditating. You can see displays that are 3 or levels tall. It's just beautiful given the fact that I love wildlife.

Visited here on our first day in Japan. It’s a good aquarium with a huge tank in the middle which you go down on different levels. The main attraction being the whale shark and some huge spider crabs. Not too expensive and will take a couple of hours to go round but does get busy and is a bit out of the way.