Uozu is one of Toyama's many cities on the sea. Uozu is famous for a dream like mirage that occasionally comes in the spring. The mirage while difficult to see, is very mysterious
if seen in person. The city of Uozu is reflected into the ocean upside down, the image appears as a city on the sea. There is also a theme park and a museum for the cities long long ago, now underwater forest. The other notable and in my opinion extremely entertaining place is Uozu Aquarium. Take a bus from Uozu Station. The aquarium is
the oldest in Japan. Do not let that fool you though, it was renovated last year and the inside is a nice combination of classic and modern aquariums put together. This was the first time in my travels I had a tour in full english. The director of the aquarium was a younger man, full of energy and a true joy to have received a tour from.
Upon arriving outside there is a large fish tank with salmon large enough to scare any child and even some adults. We played Rock Paper Scissors to see who would place their hand on the open tank. My friend lost and hesitantly entered his hand. The salmon did not care and it was no problem but they were really huge. The aquarium also has two mascots,
one being a rare glowing fish discovered in the aquarium when the lights went out one time, and one being the famous firefly squid of Toyama. Namerikawa is more famous but the little blue squid are also readily spotted in the Uozu area. They are good mascots as this aquarium is glowing with life.
The director of the aquarium guided us to the first section of the aquarium. It was all dedicated to the natural mountain to beach ecosystem seldom seen in places outside of the Toyama area. He showed us fish that could only survive in high altitudes. He showed us fish that swam down towards the ocean from the river. There was a rice paddy model
we could see all of the fish, frogs, and snakes inhabiting the rice paddy. I was shocked to see just how much life is going on underneath the growing rice. My personal favorite were the large toads, bigger than any I had ever seen in America, living close to Toyama's dams. The director offered to show me in the spring and trust me I will be going on an aquarium field day in the future. The area really showcased the inner nature of Toyama's tall mountain peaks and close to beach ecosystem.
Next on the tour we traveled through many different style ecosystems. The aquarium had a nicely themed rainforest ramp that went from piranhas and tropical fish at the bottom to a beautiful Champollion at the tree tops and everything between. We enjoyed watching sharks and jellyfish. There was a deep ocean section where we could enjoy crabs and other deep water inhabiting fish. The place was newly renovated so everything looked modern, clean, and well lit. We also could see the children area for anxious children to relax and play and look at more cute mini fish tanks. The fish that really shocked me was the South American fish arapaima, it was outrageously large and long. If this fish jumped it could kill somebody. I was shocked to see they had four or five in a massive tank, they appeared to be between 2-4 meters. Seeing that fish left me breathless.
I think the one particular standout in Uozu aquarium was the super beautiful walk through fish tank. It was the first of it's kind to be built in Japan. In the tunnel, we can feel so close to the monster yellowtails, sea breams, and many other fish swimming in the tank. I was fortunate to watch a scuba diver inside the tank feeding the fish. I would be so scared to enter a tank with so many huge fish. It commanded a really excellent view and atmosphere. Part of last years renovation was also allowing viewers to view the massive tank from above. We could see the fish from the top and all the equipment that goes into running such a massive tank. If you want to see huge fish, native to the japanese sea I recommend coming here highly. I could stand there for hours watching the massive fish gracefully swimming, I would soon become hungry though because I love eating yellowtail like no other. Yellowtail is super famous in Toyama and I recommend eating some from Uozu or Himi if given the chance, unbelievably fresh. I really loved the tank but it was off to another area.
The director guided us to the last leg of the aquarium. There were tropical turtles,
some fish you could put your hand in and they would nibble your fingers from the Middle East and a beautiful starfish tank. Outside we could see penguins from South America and really cute seals. The seals waddled around made seal noises and did what they do best, be cute. It was the end of the day and I really enjoyed this aquarium. The fish and overall atmosphere was so different than the other major aquariums in Japan. I felt I could understand Toyama much better after visiting. I really think this is a great place for anyone interested in the ocean and shouldn't be missed if you are in Toyama. I would ask for
the director, he was a really great guy and made the experience really memorable for me and my colleagues with his upbeat energy and easy to understand explanations of all of the aquariums beautiful displays and fish.