To Osaka Bay
The second aquarium of the trip, and the big one. Sumida in Tokyo was the warm-up, this was the final boss. Breakfast at Bakery Cafe C, then BB Bagel napped on the way to Tempozan with Bulbasaur as his guard.
Tempozan has the giant Ferris wheel, which we rode back in 2018 when it was just the two of us, a pirate ship for harbour cruises, and Kaiyukan itself, a big red and blue box with carp streamers flying out front for Japan’s Children’s Day on 5 May.
Kaiyukan
Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan is one of the biggest aquariums in the world. You take an escalator to the top and spiral down around one giant tank. Damn good with a stroller, you just roll downhill the whole way. The first tunnel had us in the water already.
Penguins first, and curious boy parked his hand on the glass and refused to move on. Then dolphins, then seals. One seal swam right past Bagel and he lost his mind, pointing at it like he’d spotted a celebrity.
Then the main tank, the Pacific Ocean, the one everybody comes for, with a whale shark going round and round, a sunfish, and rays. All that and Bagel was more interested in the small stuff. He tried to grab the sardines through the glass, and when that didn’t work he gave it a high five.
A pufferfish after that, and a round jellyfish window that he had to go and inspect as well.
Then more penguins at the end, so we took a family selfie with them. Kaiyukan was the highlight of the trip for Bagel. Maybe for us too.
Then lunch and LEGO animals round Tempozan.
Postcard from Tempozan, Osaka
One of Japan's big aquariums. You start at the top and spiral down around a nine-metre Pacific tank with the whale sharks in it, so a stroller just rolls downhill.