New Yashima Aquarium
New Yashima Aquarium is a small, family-friendly attraction located on the top of the Yashima mountain, beside the Yashima Visitor Center. It first opened as the Yashima Mountaintop Aquarium in 1969 and underwent large-scale renovations and a name change in 2019. In 1970, it became the first aquarium in the world to install a large acrylic water tank, produced by the Nippura Corporation, headquartered in Miki, Kagawa Prefecture. Nippura’s tanks are now used in aquariums around the world, including the Monterey Bay Aquarium in California and the Dubai Aquarium in the UAE.
The aquarium houses an eclectic collection of roughly 150 species in 80 tanks of various sizes. Some of the most popular attractions are the penguins, otters, and two West Indian manatees. New Yashima Aquarium is one of only two facilities in Japan, along with Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium, where visitors can see West Indian manatees.
There are regular shows where the aquarium’s seals and bottlenose dolphins perform acrobatic tricks above and below the water. The sea creatures can be viewed up close from a glass-bottomed boat, and feeding sessions for the manatees, penguins, and sea turtles are also offered.