Toba Aquarium, located in Japan’s Toba City, Mie Prefecture, was one of the most memorable places that we visited during our trip through Wakayama, Kumano Kodo, and Mie.
Opened on May 15, 1955, this well-known aquarium has over 1200 species, 12 different zones to explore, and adorable marine mammals such as sea lions, dolphins, walruses, sea otters, and more. They’re the only aquarium in Japan that breeds dugongs (although we saw one on display).
I originally didn’t have Toba Aquarium as a day trip, but I was interested in seeing a dugong and walruses. Justin and I have never seen these animals before and wanted to see them in real life! I especially wanted to see the walruses since I have a 30 year old walrus stuffed animal that I absolutely adore and still have.
We spent a few hours here and loved our experience. We wanted to share tips and more information on Toba Aquarium and why you should visit.
I know people have mixed feelings about visiting aquariums, but we suggest giving this one a chance. With the various sea creatures and marine life, as well as educational aspects, you may end up enjoying this place.
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Quick Snapshot – Top 3 Things We Enjoyed About Toba Aquarium
Don’t have time to read this post? Here are the top 3 things that we enjoyed about this aquarium.
1. It’s not too large of place, so you’ll need at least 2 hours to explore. We stayed for 3.5 to 4 hours.
2. It’s a family-friendly place to visit at any time of the year. We went on a weekday and it wasn’t crowded.
3. The animals and creatures on display look like they’re well-kept with clean tanks and food. You can even read current updates of the animals from the caretakers on the official website’s Diary section.
Jellyfish
Price
- Adult: 2,800 yen
- Children (6-15 years old): 1,600 yen
- Children (3-5 years old): 800 yen
Click here to see the current prices for the aquarium.
Tickets are available for purchase on the day of at the ticket machines. Credit cards are accepted at the ticket machines.
TIP: Re-entry is allowed into the aquarium.
On your way out, stamp your forearm with the glow-in-the-dark stamp. You need to show your forearm and your ticket when re-entering the aquarium.
We took a lunch break and left the aquarium. While the aquarium had cafes and onsite restaurants, we wanted to try more local foods in the area.
We went to Nanakoshi Chaya 七越茶屋 which was a 10 minute walk from the aquarium. We tried the local specialty of tekone sushi (marinated tuna sashimi on a bed of rice and topped with chopped shiso leaves and ginger) and Ise udon. Click here to see the location on Google Maps.
Nanakoshi Chaya is a yummy place for lunch in Toba
How to Get to Toba Aquarium
Most people tend to drive to the Toba Aquarium. There is a parking lot next to the aquarium and public lots near the entrance.
If you prefer to take public transportation, you can take the train to Toba Station (鳥羽駅) via Japan Railways (on JR Sangu Line) or Kintetsu Railways (on Shima Line) and walk 10 minutes to the Toba Aquarium entrance.
Toba Station accepts tourists’ JR Passes, such as the JR Wide Area or JR Regional Ise-Kumano-Wakayama Area Pass. We used the JR regional pass and didn’t have any issues.
Our Favorite Memories from Toba Aquarium
Very organized layout.
We appreciated the size of the aquarium as it wasn’t too large or too small. The exhibits were on the same floor. There wasn’t any set path to visit the exhibits, so you could peruse at your leisure.
We appreciated how the exhibits had both English and Japanese signs.
If you need a guide for the aquarium (available in English, Chinese (traditional and Simplified), and others), you can pick one up after your ticket. Or, you can visit the Information Desk.
Take a photo with the Serena the dugong sign at the entrance
Adorable sea lion and seals feeding & show
When we arrived at Toba Aquarium, we heard on the PA system about a show happening. Since we didn’t understand, we looked at our guide (in English) and saw the times listed for the sea lion and sea lion feeding.
There were two areas to see a large sea lion or a pair of seals. The audience was behind a glass to prevent the animals from getting touched.
What a cheeky sea lion
The caretaker gave chunks of fish and seafood to the sea lion and seals after they performed tricks. Since we were on the sea lion side, we saw it doing planks and giving kisses to the audience. It also approached a young girl (behind the glass) in a playful manner, but ended up scaring her. We were in awe at the sea lion’s strength!
Seeing Serena, the majestic dugong.
As mentioned earlier, this aquarium bred dugongs. I’m not sure of the breeding program status, but we saw one dugong on display.
Her name is Serena and she was born in 1987. She is a gorgeous dugong who loves eating seagrass and just swam around slowly in her tank.
We can see why Serena the dugong is the mascot of Toba Aquarium!
We heard a young child describe Serena in one word – “Kawaiiii” (very cute in Japanese). We agree!
Serena is a popular mascot for the aquarium as she is the main icon for Toba Aquarium’s social media platforms.
If you want to support her further, the aquarium’s gift shop has a dark blue t-shirt with a dugong print on the back. We bought one since it was too cute to pass up.
Walrus Meet & Greet
We met Tsurara, a 15-year-old walrus. She is an adorable walrus who did a short performance in front of an audience.
She played the harmonica, blew bubbles from a bubble wand, and gave kisses to the audience. After each trick, she slurped up pieces of fish and seafood. Her slurping noise was so cute! She eats over 10 kg (22 pounds) of fish each day.
Check out the Walrus Meet and Greet show.
The show was in Japanese, so we didn’t understand it, yet Tsurara gave a fun performance.
Note: Tsurara performed on a slightly wet mat. At the end of the show, she slid around the audience area and people touched and petted her as she passed by. We personally don’t like this aspect of the performance since people’s hands are not clean, and who knows what could get passed onto Tsurara.
Afterward, we went to see another walrus, Pou-chan, in the nearby tank. He is a larger walrus who likes to whistle and blow water. As a heads up, sometimes the water would go over the height of the tank and visitors will get wet.
Other beautiful animals and sea creatures to check out.
We saw penguins, Amazonian fish, Commerson dolphins, sea otters, axolotl, blue lobsters, African manatee, giant tortoises, mollucks, jellyfish, flying Cat, Baikal seals, and so much more. It was exciting to see these animals and sea creatures up close.
There was a scheduled Penguin Walk and a sea lion show, but we didn’t see them.
Have you seen garden eels before?
I’m a fan of seals.
Commerson dolphins are gorgeous!
More Information About Toba Aquarium
Website (in English)
Final Thoughts
Toba Aquarium is worth a visit to learn about and see creatures and marine animals. We had a fabulous time exploring the exhibits, seeing new things, and watching a few performances.
While people may think that the price for this place is high, it is reasonable considering that the marine animals need to eat a lot of fish and seafood daily. Plus, this place is well-maintained.
We will return when we’re in the area and hope you get a chance to visit in the future!
If you have extra time in Toba, check out our Toba 1 day itinerary or our top things to do post for other places to visit after the aquarium.
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