The is an aquarium located in the ward of Minato

Minato-ku, Osaka

is one of 24 wards of Osaka, Japan. It has an area of 7.9 km², and a population of 84,961. Minato-ku literally translated means Harbor Ward.- Landmarks :*Kaiyukan *Port of Osaka*Tempozan Harbor Village*Modern Transportation Museum...

 in Osaka, Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

, near Osaka Bay. It is one of the largest public aquarium

Public aquarium

A public aquarium is the aquatic counterpart of a zoo, housing living aquatic species for viewing. Most public aquariums feature tanks larger than those kept by home aquarists, as well as smaller tanks. Since the first public aquariums were built in the mid-19th century, they have become popular...

s in the world, and is a member of the Japanese Association of Zoos and Aquariums (JAZA).

The aquarium is about a five minute walk from Osakako Station

Osakako Station

is a train station on the Osaka Municipal Subway Chūō Line in Minato-ku, Osaka, Japan. It is the stop that services the Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan.-Layout:*There is an elevated island platform with two tracks on the third floor.-Stations next to Osakako:...

 on the Osaka Municipal Subway

Osaka Municipal Subway

is the metro network in the city of Osaka, Japan, forming an integral part of the extensive mass transit system of Greater Osaka , having 125 out of the 1,108 rail stations in the Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto region. In 2010 the greater Osaka region had 13 million rail passengers daily of which the Osaka...

 Chūō Line, and is next to the Tempozan Ferris Wheel.

Exhibits

The walk-through aquarium displays marine life in several habitats comprising 27 tanks in 16 main exhibits with a total volume of 10,941 tons of water. The habitats are from the Ring of Fire

Pacific Ring of Fire

The Pacific Ring of Fire is an area where large numbers of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions occur in the basin of the Pacific Ocean. In a horseshoe shape, it is associated with a nearly continuous series of oceanic trenches, volcanic arcs, and volcanic belts and/or plate movements...

 area of the Pacific Ocean

Pacific Ocean

The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...

. The largest tank is 9 metres (30 ft) deep and holds 5400 cubic metres (190,699 cu ft) of water and a variety of fish including manta rays and a whale shark

Whale shark

The whale shark, Rhincodon typus, is a slow-moving filter feeding shark, the largest extant fish species. The largest confirmed individual had a length of and a weight of more than , but unconfirmed claims report considerably larger whale sharks...

.

The tanks used in the aquarium are made of 314 tonne of acrylic glass. The largest single pane measures six meters by five meters by thirty centimeters and weighs roughly 10 tons. At the thicknesses used, regular glass

Glass

Glass is an amorphous solid material. Glasses are typically brittle and optically transparent.The most familiar type of glass, used for centuries in windows and drinking vessels, is soda-lime glass, composed of about 75% silica plus Na2O, CaO, and several minor additives...

 would be unwieldy and would not have the desired transparency.

Architecture

The Kaiyukan’s conceptual design, architecture, and exhibit design was led by Peter Chermayeff of Peter Chermayeff LLC while at Cambridge Seven Associates.