Kaze no Tani Aquarium

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Kaze no Tani Aquarium is a public aquarium located in Koganei, Tokyo, Japan. It is one of the largest aquariums in the world, with many species on display in various habitats reminiscent of their wild counterparts. The aquarium has a partnership with Studio Ghibli, who provides sponsorships for various exhibits, and in return, the aquarium uses some of its profits to help fund various Ghibli projects.

Exhibits

Tsukamori Forest

The Tsukamori Forest is modeled after the forests of Japan's main island, Honshū and the moist tropical forests of Okinawa Prefecture. The area is also based heavily upon, and contains theming from, various Studio Ghibli films, including My Neighbor Totoro, Princess Mononoke, and Pom Poko. The exhibit is named after the forest from My Neighbor Totoro.

The exhibit contains various species of animals, mainly focusing on Japan's freshwater environments, but a few land-based species are also found, such as Asian small-clawed otters, Eurasian otters, mandarin ducks, yellow pond turtles, and Ryukyu tip-nosed frogs.

However, the main focus of the exhibit is on Japanese freshwater areas, such as Lake Biwa. See below for a full list of species.

Amazonia

Amazonia, the second exhibit in the aquarium, features species from the South American rainforest ecosystem, which stretches from Colombia down to Brazil and west to Ecuador and Peru. This area is highly biodiverse, and so many species, from various different environments are shown, including the Orinoco and Amazon rivers.

The stars of the exhibit are the capybaras, named after characters from Pom Poko. However, the exhibit's main aim is to focus and display aquatic species from South America.