also called Aquarium Asamushi, is an aquarium

Aquarium

An aquarium is a vivarium consisting of at least one transparent side in which water-dwelling plants or animals are kept. Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, marine mammals, turtles, and aquatic plants...

 in the Asamushi area

Asamushi Onsen

is an onsen resort in the city of Aomori, Aomori Prefecture.-Transportation:The resort is served by Asamushi-Onsen Station on the Tōhoku Main Line. Guests arriving by automobile can take Route 4; the trip from the center of Aomori takes about 30 minutes.-Resort:Two attractions include the Asamushi...

 of Aomori

Aomori, Aomori

is the capital city of Aomori Prefecture, in the northern Tōhoku region of Japan. As of 2009, the city had an estimated population of 302,068 and a density of 366 persons per km². Its total area was 824.52 km².- History :...

, Aomori Prefecture

Aomori Prefecture

is a prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku Region. The capital is the city of Aomori.- History :Until the Meiji Restoration, the area of Aomori prefecture was known as Mutsu Province....

, 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...

. Overlooking Mutsu Bay

Mutsu Bay

is a bay inside Aomori Prefecture, Japan. It includes three bays; Aomori Bay, Noheji Bay and Ōminato Bay. Mutsu Bay covers about 1660 km². The culture of scallops is prosperous in the bay....

, it is the northernmost aquarium in Honshū

Honshu

is the largest island of Japan. The nation's main island, it is south of Hokkaido across the Tsugaru Strait, north of Shikoku across the Inland Sea, and northeast of Kyushu across the Kanmon Strait...

. It is also the largest general aquarium in the Tōhoku region

Tohoku region

The is a geographical area of Japan. The region occupies the northeastern portion of Honshu, the largest island of Japan. The region consists of six prefectures : Akita, Aomori, Fukushima, Iwate, Miyagi and Yamagata....

. It keeps and displays 11,000 marine organisms, including those from Aomori Prefecture's abundant marine resources and over 500 species of rare aquatic animals from around the world. Its warm and cold water displays feature such marine animals as sea otter

Sea Otter

The sea otter is a marine mammal native to the coasts of the northern and eastern North Pacific Ocean. Adult sea otters typically weigh between 14 and 45 kg , making them the heaviest members of the weasel family, but among the smallest marine mammals...

s, sea lion

Sea Lion

Sea lions are pinnipeds characterized by external ear-flaps, long fore-flippers, the ability to walk on all fours, and short thick hair. Together with the fur seal, they comprise the family Otariidae, or eared seals. There are six extant and one extinct species in five genera...

s, seals

Earless seal

The true seals or earless seals are one of the three main groups of mammals within the seal superfamily, Pinnipedia. All true seals are members of the family Phocidae . They are sometimes called crawling seals to distinguish them from the fur seals and sea lions of the family Otariidae...

, penguin

Penguin

Penguins are a group of aquatic, flightless birds living almost exclusively in the southern hemisphere, especially in Antarctica. Highly adapted for life in the water, penguins have countershaded dark and white plumage, and their wings have become flippers...

s, and dolphin

Dolphin

Dolphins are marine mammals that are closely related to whales and porpoises. There are almost forty species of dolphin in 17 genera. They vary in size from and , up to and . They are found worldwide, mostly in the shallower seas of the continental shelves, and are carnivores, mostly eating...

s. The aquarium is open daily year round from 9am - 5pm (extended to 6pm in the summer season).

Displays

1st floor

• Amphibian display
• Seawater tank (tunnel tank)
• Warm water creatures (tropical tank)
• Marine life
• Cold water creatures
• Rare fresh water creatures
• Delfino gift shop

2nd floor

• Tropical rainforest
  Tropical rainforest
  A tropical rainforest is an ecosystem type that occurs roughly within the latitudes 28 degrees north or south of the equator . This ecosystem experiences high average temperatures and a significant amount of rainfall...
  
   display
• Environmental "touch tank"
• Dolphin show pool
• Dolphins

History

The Asamushi Aquarium was founded in 1922 by the Biology Department of the School of Sciences of Tōhoku Imperial University

Tohoku University

, abbreviated to , located in the city of Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture in the Tōhoku Region, Japan, is a Japanese national university. It is the third oldest Imperial University in Japan and is a member of the National Seven Universities...

. Although its primary purpose was for marine biology

Marine biology

Marine biology is the scientific study of organisms in the ocean or other marine or brackish bodies of water. Given that in biology many phyla, families and genera have some species that live in the sea and others that live on land, marine biology classifies species based on the environment rather...

research, it was opened to the general public from 1924. The facilities were completely rebuilt in 1983 and have a total area of 8813.11 square metres (10,540.4 sq yd) The Aquarium is currently operated by the Aomori prefectural government.