Otaru Aquarium, located along the coastline of Otaru, Hokkaido, Japan, is one of the popular attractions to visit in the city. It’s the perfect place for children, families, and those who love marine mammals.
Opened in 1958, this aquarium has over 250 species and 5,000 creatures. This place is separated over two floors in the main building, an indoor dolphin stadium, and an outdoor Marine Mammal Park.
It was Justin and my first time visiting Otaru Aquarium. We heard that there were walruses, seals, sea lions, dolphins, and penguin shows, adorable harbor porpoises, and more. We’ve been obsessed with walruses after seeing Tsurara and Pou-chan at Toba Aquarium in Toba, Japan, and want to see more cuteness!
While this place is smaller and older (think: old school ‘70s vibes), we enjoyed seeing the marine mammals for a few hours.
If this place sounds interesting to you, continue reading our post on what to know about Otaru Aquarium, how to get there, and more. Even if you’re hesitant to see marine animals and sea creatures, you may end up enjoying this place.
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Why We Liked Otaru Aquarium
Here is a quick summary of why we recommend this place:
- Many unique fish, marine life, and marine mammals are on display, such as Amazonian fish, seals, walruses, and lumpfish.
- It’s a fun place for children and families, featuring interactive activities such as feeding the seals a bucket of fish and a marine life touch area.
- There are live shows with the animals in 10 or 20 minute increments.
I was excited to see walruses at Otaru Aquarium!
Admission Fee
- Adults (16 years and up): 1,800 yen
- Children (6 to 15 years): 700 yen
- Infants (3 to 5 years): 350 yen
Click here to see the pricing.
Where to Buy Tickets
This visit wasn’t sponsored. We bought the tickets at the Otaru Aquarium entrance. We used our U.S. credit card, Chase Sapphire Preferred, for payment.
The octopus statues wearing scuba diving gear are hilarious
Top Highlights of Otaru Aquarium
It wasn’t crowded on a weekday.
We visited on a Wednesday afternoon and enjoyed the fewer crowds. We didn’t need to stress about finding a place to stand or sit when watching the marine mammal shows.
Plus, it was easy to walk around and see the fish, jellyfish, and other unique creatures up close.
We spent 3 hours here and didn’t feel rushed.
I’m in awe of the unique fish at the aquarium
Watching the adorable walrus, seal, penguin, and sea lion shows.
Note: The shows are in Japanese, but still very fun to watch. Also, the viewing area has standing and seating, depending on the show.
The shows are located outside in the Marine Mammal Park, so you’ll get some sunshine and fresh air while seeing the animals. Each show is 10 minutes.
They are scheduled close to each other, so you can “hop” to each show. For example, the seal show is at 12:10pm, penguin show is at 12:20pm, sea lion show is at 12:30pm, etc.
Here is the Marine Mammal Park where the shows occur
The walrus show was our favorite. There were three walruses – Uchio, Uurya, and Tsumugi. Uchio and Uurya are the parents of Tsumugi (who is 4 years old).
Fun Fact: Tsurara from Toba Aquarium is Tsumugi’s older sister.
They did tricks, slurped fish as a treat, and gave the audience lots of kisses. Sometimes, it was hard to see the walruses since we viewed the show behind the tank. I hope this tank gets updated in the near future!
The 10 minute Walrus Show was worth watching!
TIP: The seating area is limited, as there are a few benches. So you’ll want to arrive 5 to 10 minutes before the start time.
The sea lion show was also impressive. I didn’t realize how huge the sea lions are! They did tricks such as holding up their bodies like a dolphin on a stand. They also climbed up rocks for synchronized diving into the water. They were so strong!
The sea lions are super strong!
This place is known for the Penguin Parade, but it occurs during the colder season. Since we visited in May, this opportunity wasn’t on the schedule.
But the penguin show was funny as the penguins didn’t follow any instructions. They just waddled around and wanted to eat fish! It was hilarious.
The opportunity to feed the seals in the rehabilitation area.
For 500 yen or 1000 yen, you can get a bucket of fresh fish and feed the seals in the designated area. We didn’t participate but saw a child and a parent feeding the seals.
The spotted seals and harbor seals in the area loved the fish. One of the seals was greedy and kept on flapping its flipper against the water to get more fish. It was quite a sight!
Classic seal moves of resting on a rock and swimming
Seeing unique marine animals and fish.
We enjoyed walking around the indoor aquarium in the main building and seeing beautiful animals such as the harbor porpoise and small Asian clawed otters. The two harbor porpoises were on display and swam around in their tanks. The otters napped during our visit.
Here is one of the harbor porpoises swimming around
One of the coolest parts was seeing the large Amazonian fish. They’re prehistoric-looking and very long!
The length of the Amazonian fish are very long compared to me!
Other fish that we enjoyed seeing were the lumpfish. We haven’t seen these before, only on social media. These are adorable fish that evolved to have a pelvic fin on the bottom of their bodies, so it’s like a suction cup. At Otaru Aquarium, they stuck themselves on shellfish, the side of the walls, and inside conch shells.
Have you seen a lumpfish before?
Watching the Dolphin Show at the Dolphin Stadium.
This 20-minute show had 3 dolphins swimming around and doing tricks. They zoomed so quickly in the water.
There was also an informational part where we learned about the fish that they eat. Their diets consist of mackerel, horse mackerel, herring, atka mackerel, and sand lance. What a feast!
The dolphins swim elegantly during the Dolphin Show
Collecting stamps around the aquarium.
For those who collect eki stamps (train stamps) or rubber stamps around Japan, Otaru Aquarium has a handful of rectangular stamps to collect. They’re adorable
There are three locations to collect the stamps – on the first floor, in the Dolphin Stadium, and in the Marine Mammal Park.
If you don’t have a stamp book, you can buy one at the gift shop.
How to Get to Otaru Aquarium
From Sapporo Station to Otaru Station
Take a 35-minute train on the Japan Railways (JR) Rapid Airport line to get from Sapporo to Otaru.
You can pay for an individual ticket, use an IC card such as ICOCA or Suica, or use a JR pass, such as the Hokkaido Pass, Sapporo-Furano Area Pass, or Sapporo-Noboribetsu Area Pass.
We used the Sapporo-Furano Area Pass to get to Otaru. With this pass, we reserved a seat, so the ride was more comfortable.
TIP: If you’re arriving in Otaru from another location, we recommend using Google Maps for directions and public transportation scheduling.
From Otaru Station to the Aquarium
Take the bus
If you’re taking the bus from Otaru Station, there is a direct bus to Otaru Aquarium. You can take either Bus #10 or #11. The bus routes are different depending on the bus number. Expect to take 25 minutes one-way.
Check out the bus schedule at the bottom of the page.
From the Aquarium to Otaru Station, hop on the same bus numbers to return. The bus stop has a pickup schedule, so you can plan your departure.
We took the return bus from the Aquarium to Otaru Station. The cost was 240 yen one way. We used our IC card for payment.
Drive a car
The aquarium has a large parking lot to park vehicles. There is a small parking fee.
Walk
If your legs aren’t tired and you’re willing to walk, it’s a nice, easy walk to the Aquarium. There is a sidewalk, so you won’t need to walk along traffic.
We walked from the Otaru Canal to a bus stop and saw the bus schedule at one of the stops. Unfortunately, we missed the bus during lunchtime, and the next one wouldn’t arrive for the next 30 minutes. After calculating the wait and the bus ride (less than 30 minutes), we decided that the time would be the same if we just walked.
Our walking route traveled along the coastline. We passed by the Steam Locomotive Museum, Yunohana Otaru Onsen, and a hardware store. We also walked through a tunnel. Don’t worry. There is a sidewalk and a barrier to protect the walkers from the cars.
More Information About Otaru Aquarium
Website (in Japanese) | Website (in English)
Final Thoughts
Otaru Aquarium is a small yet fun place to visit in Otaru, Hokkaido. While the facilities need some TLC (tender loving care) and some upgrades, it’s still a fun place to explore and see marine life and marine animals. We thought the engaging marine mammal performances and unique sea creatures made the aquarium worth a visit.
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