Today we set out in the morning to the Kaiyukan Aquarium, noted as one of the largest and best aquariums in the world, and then headed to the Harukas 300 Observatory in the afternoon, Japan’s tallest building.
We are quickly becoming familiar with the Osaka subway system, and are able to use the same Suica card as in Tokyo and on the Kyoto buses, making it easy to tap on and off the trains.
The Kaiyukan aquarium was very impressive, and a really enjoyable morning. After entering you pass through a tunnel tank, and then travel up a long escalator to the 8th floor. From here you slowly spiral down the levels, with many tanks spanning multiple levels so you view the animals at various depths and from different angles. Animals included otters, seals, dolphins, penguins, sharks, sting rays, and even a few fish. The displays are themed around the pacific rim, and included a Great Barrier Reef tank, a Pacific Ocean tank, and even Antarctic penguins with their own snow machine.
The biggest attraction is a whale shark in the main tank, which gracefully laps it tank along with many smaller sharks, rays and fish. We were also able to touch baby sharks and rays in a petting area, and also use an interactive display that based on a short questionnaire would produce your own fish selfie!
After a quick lunch at the adjacent shopping centre, a subway trip, and then a quick elevator ride to the 60th floor, we were standing overlooking Osaka and the broader Kansai region.
It was a spectacular view and a really peaceful observatory. The floor to ceiling glass over three levels, the 360-degree view, the inner courtyard that is open to the sky from the 58th floor, and the large size meant it was very spacious and quiet, allowing us to all slowly enjoy the view. The late afternoon light and the clear day allowed us to see clearly toward Kyoto, and across the bay to see the buildings of Kobe.
The 300m tall building was completed in 2014, and is the tallest building in Japan with only the Tokyo Skytree tower taller (634m tall with observation decks at 350m and 450m). We watched the sun set from the open air deck on the 58th floor where we could have a drink from the cafe. It was even worth a visit to the toilets with the view continuing in the bathrooms.
Part of the visit to the Harukas 300 was also to pick up our special entry tickets to Universal Studio for the following day. A quick stop at CoCo Curry House for dinner and we headed back to the apartment for an early night ready for a big day at Universal Studios.
Really enjoying your travel blogs.
You seem to be having a great time.
Really pleased for you guys:)