You don’t have to brave the elements to see the most spectacular autumn leaves in Japan anymore! Shinagawa Aqua Park teams up with the Naked, Inc. projection mapping artists to conjure up new immersive delights in every season, but none are more spectacular than the fabulous fall fantasy swirling around Aqua Park’s spectacular collection of tropical fish right now.
You can practically feel the wind blowing your through your hair as it rustles the tree branches all around and a shining path parts the colorful falling maple leaves…
But magic soon ignites,
scattering the leaves and dancing them around the room, until the floor is carpeted in brilliant chaos.
But my favorite part of the cycle is when the leaves are swept away to reveal the raked gravel of a Zen rock garden and you find yourself surrounded by a living woodblock print…
with koi that prowl the walls behind live specimens swimming in their sparkling clean tanks…
Every step you take across the “rock garden” sends ripples through the raked gravel and scatters the fallen leaves…
and here’s what it feels like to be there! (Watch what happens around the visitors’ feet as they cross the “Zen Garden”…)
But that’s just the beginning. Autumnal delights continue throughout the aquarium, even in the snack bar, where leaves fall all around and live clownfish cavort beneath the glass-topped tables as you sip your drink.
The thing I love most about this is how cutting-edge technology is used to make Japan’s age-old celebration of the seasons and time-honored childhood entertainments like going to the aquarium fresh and new again.
The next time you’re in Tokyo—whatever the season!—it’s well worth a visit.
Also included in the ticket price is a gallery of huge tank environments populated by an entertaining variety of pretty fish, a walk-through shark & manta ray tunnel, a small zoo of cute animals, and several dolphin shows a day.
Open: Every day
Hours: 10:00 – 20:00
Admission: Adults: ¥2500, Students: ¥1300, Children (4 and under) ¥800
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Jonelle Patrick writes novels set in Japan, produces the monthly Japanagram newsletter, and blogs at Only In Japan and The Tokyo Guide I Wish I’d Had
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