Today I went to a famous aquarium, 美ら海水族館 (churaumi suizokukan, Churaumi Aquarium). I had checked the bus route ahead of time, but had trouble finding the exact spot to board because there are many bus stops in a small area. Some Americans in a taxi saw me searching, asked me what I was looking for, told me where my stop was, introduced themselves, and shook my hand. They were all young men, perhaps military personnel on their day off, perhaps tourists, I couldn't be sure. They invited me to "party" later. Not a particularly tempting invitation when you're a woman traveling alone and your hosts would be three unknown men. I politely declined. If it were three Japanese men I don't think they would act the same way, unless they were drinking and it was evening. It's interesting how culture completely shapes behavior.
I boarded the bus from Kenchomae, and took it about an hour and a half north to Ocean Expo Park. I arrived about the time Churarumi opened with the intention of spending my entire day there. The aquarium did not disappoint. There wasn't a moment during the day that I was bored. Throughout the day presentations were offered at each exhibit, and I spent a lot of time toggling between attending these for listening practice and "collecting words." One of my favorite activities in museums of any sort in Japan is to read every display, pamphlet, or description I can get my hands on and make copious notes of words I don't yet understand. I call this collecting words. It's a ridiculously nerdy habit. Museums are great for this, though, because in one day you see many repeated words and you can actually internalize new vocabulary quickly. I recommend this technique to language learners who are trying to expand their vocabulary. If the museum offers descriptions in your native language, only use them as comparison to help you more fully understand how to use your new vocabulary in context. Don't fall back on reading them unless you are low on time and your interest in the topic at the moment is stronger than learning a foreign language.
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| fountain in the midst of Ocean Expo Park |
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| shisa fountain |
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| hermit crab shrubbery? |
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| dolphin mister |
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| whale shark statue |
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| the ocean |
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| wow |
The first thing inside the aquarium was a touch pool. Despite the fact the attendants constantly advised お水の中に触ってください (omizu no naka ni sawatte kudasai, please touch within the water) and お水から出さないでください (omizu kara dasanaide kudasai, please don't remove anything from the water), even adults all around the pool continued to pull the creatures out of the water whether just absent-mindedly or to take silly photos. I was a little shocked. Most of the visitors were probably tourists and not Okinawan people, but many of the people I saw doing this were speaking fluent Japanese to each other, so they had to have clearly understood the instructions. Maybe it's because Okinawa is a bit looser on rules than the 本土 (hondo, mainland).
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| touch pool |
There were displays of くらげ (kurage, jellyfish), サンゴ礁 (sango-shou, coral reef) and 熱帯魚 (nettai-gyo, tropical fish). On a side note, I guess selfie-sticks are becoming so commonly used they are becoming a problem...
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| 使用禁止 (shiyou kinshi, use is prohibited) |
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| サカサクラゲ (sakasa kurage, upside-down jellyfish) |
I found some truly amusing Japanese through this. Some Japanese visitors were laughing at the exhibit of the upside-down jellyfish, and I thought maybe it was a pun on the word. I thought so because many Japanese words sound alike, so people sometimes need to clear up misunderstandings of words. The puns are fairly common so a lot of Japanese humor is based on ambiguity.
It turns out 逆さクラゲ (sakasa kurage, traditional love hotel) has pretty much exactly the same meaning but for different reasons. This word means a traditional love hotel because the symbol for an onsen looks kind of like an upside-down jellyfish. It was just a polite way of referring to the place, I suppose.
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| くらげ (kurage, jellyfish) |
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| サンゴ (sango, coral) |
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| lionfish (name in Japanese changes depending on type, unsure) |
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| フグ (fugu, puffer fish) |
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| love the natural light coming in through the top |
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| メガネモチノウオ (megane mochi nouo, humphead wrasse) |
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| some crazy type of starfish |
マガネ (megane) means glasses, and モチ can be a form of the verb to carry or wear, so I think the fish's name has something to do with wearing glasses. Cute!
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| ニモ！ (nimo, Nemo), Finding Nemo is so popular here everyone calls clownfish Nemo |
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| ウニ (uni, sea urchin) |
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| These are a type of えび (ebi, shrimp), but they're huge! Just the folded body of one is longer than my forearm! |
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| pretty |
After ブラブラ (bura bura, wandering aimlessly) awhile, I went out to watch the いるか (iruka, dolphin) and くじら (kujira, whale) show at オキちゃん劇場 (oki-chan gekijyou, dolphin theater). I didn't know that oki-chan could be a nickname for dolphins. Maybe it is derived from an Okinawan word?
Before watching the show I grabbed a benimo soft cream from the nearby shop. I highly recommend it. The ice cream was obviously naturally flavored because you could really taste that it was made from sweet potato. I absolutely loved it.
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| 餌やり (esa yari, feeding) ! |
I would have wanted to feed the dolphins, but it was Sunday and it looked like all the children wanted to do it. I couldn't take the opportunity away from a child.
餌 (esa, animal feed) is used to refer to any food you feed to 動物 (doubutsu, animals).
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| whale |
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| dolphin/whale show |
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| so cool |
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| :) |
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| Hi, whale! |
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| cute trick |
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| diver show |
At the diver show they asked the audience questions about dolphins' anatomy and evolution. They gave stickers to the people who answered correctly. It was really cute! I didn't know that dolphins and hippos were related before.
Singing!
Tricks!
Manzai? (Japanese duo stand-up comedy)
After the dolphin/whale shows I grabbed a small lunch of 沖縄かまぼこ (okinawa kamaboko, a kind of Okinawa fish oil-fried food). I ordered ジャガチーズ (jyaga chiizu, potato and cheese) kamaboko and it was yummy. I recommend trying kamaboko.
ジャガイモ (jyagaimo) means potato and チーズ (chiizu) means cheese, so a shortening of the two might become ジャガチーズ, but today was the first time I ever saw that particular abbreviation.
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| potato and cheese kamaboko |
Next I saw the manatees in a separate, special manatee area. They were a mother and son.
There was feeding back at the tropical fish display within the main aquarium, so I returned to watch.
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| frenzy |
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| This fish changes color when it eats! |
Unfortunately, I came to the second feeding of the day, so the fish was already in its post-feeding state. When I asked the woman who gave the presentation how quickly the color would change, she said almost immediately after it ate. Apparently the change only take a minute or two to complete. She also told me it depends on the day, though. I wish I had seen it happen!
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| post-food |
feeding time
There was a presentation above a huge tank with 甚平鮫 (jinbeizame, whale sharks) and other creatures. It was an impressive tank and I learned that females can be pregnant with even 300 babies at a time. Amazing!
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| whale shark |
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| from the side |
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| tank from above |
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| whale shark from above |
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| and from below |
Took some random photos.
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| seahorse |
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| シャコガイ (shakogai, giant clam) |
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| anemone |
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| There was a shark research lab... well Japan, this is a bit morbid. Children you are just taking apart that shark. |
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| pretty cool |
There was a small turtle exhibit separate from the main aquarium, too.
Once I got my fill of Churaumi Aquarium I made my way home on the bus. A sweet lady at the bus stop seemed worried that I was sitting in the sun and let me share her parasol, it was very kind of her. I slept most of the way home on the bus. The views were very nice from the bus, too.
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| ocean from the bus |
A good day deserves a beer tasting, so I grabbed a beer I'd never tried from the convenience store. It wasn't half bad, fortunately. It's a limited release, too!
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| 旨み (umami, umami), 香り (kaori, nose), 苦み (nigami, bitterness), ボディ (bodi, body) |
限定 (gentei, limited)
醸造 (jyouzou, brewing)
I had such an amazing day! Everyone should go see Churaumi Aquarium if presented with the chance.
