History of Kamo Aquarium
Tsuruoka City Kamo Aquarium is a municipal aquarium in Tsuruoka City, Yamagata Prefecture.
It was established in 1930. It was temporarily closed during the war, but resumed in 1956 after the war. In 1964, we moved to the current site. It set a new record of 217372 annual visitors in 1967.
Murakami Tatsuo began working at Kamo Aquarium in 1966 and was appointed director in 27 at the young age of 1967.
In 1971, the annual number of visitors was about 200,000, and everything went smoothly, but the parent company had fallen into a slump and all of them were fired, and the aquarium was closed as well.
But the aquarium had creatures, so four people, including Murakami, had to stay there over night to take care of them.
Although the financial difficulties remained unresolved, the aquarium resumed operation three months later. Three months later, a local company became the owner and we were able to make a fresh start. In the mid-1990s, the annual number of visitors went down to 90,000, and there sometimes were only 2 visitors per day.
In 1997, the “live coral and coral reef fish exhibit” was opened. After
the exhibition, I happened to find a small creature in a coral tank. It
was a baby giant jellyfish. After much trial and error, we have
established a method of breeding jellyfish and developed a jellyfish
tank. In 2000, the Kamo Aquarium became the number one jellyfish
exhibition in Japan, and the number of visitors also rose steadily.
It is increasing.
Help from Dr. Shimomura
When the aquarium staff was in trouble with glowing jellyfish, Nobel Prize winner Osamu Shimomura called them directly to give them advice. The late Shimomura was awarded the Nobel Prize for discovering the green fluorescent protein (GFP), which is essential for research in medicine and life science. “Thinking and doing your best, you suddenly see the future.” was his motto.
About Kamo Acquarium now
There are more than 50 kinds of jellyfish on display, and the type of display is registered in the Guinness Book of Records as the best in the world.
In the jellyfish exhibition room “clanetarium”, you can see the mystique of a wide variety of jellyfish, ranging from small, growing jellyfish to jellyfish that emit light themselves in the dark.
Especially the 5 meter diameter water tank “Craggedream Theater” is remarkable. The fantastic beauty of the 2,000 water jellyfish floating in the huge tank catches the eyes of the viewers. In addition, the Jellyfish Feeding Guide is in the “Jellyfish Cultivation Center” where you can see the jellyfish eating the food.
You can also learn about the ecology of jellyfish. “Jellyfish Cultivation Center”, which introduces the breeding situation, holds “Explanation of jellyfish feeding” 4 times a day.
Sea lion Show
The sea lion show takes place twice in the morning and twice in the afternoon at the show pool in the courtyard. You can enjoy seeing the sea lions catch the ball, throw it in a ring, and activity with the zookeepers. The show pool is located in an open space, and you can see it from the terrace or the slope to the rooftop.
*10: 00 AM, 11: 30 AM
*PM: 30: 13, 15: 00
Feeding Black-tailed Gulls
A black-tailed gull feeding show is taking place. You can actually feed the black-tailed gulls living in Shonaihama. When the zookeepers throw food at the black-tailed gulls, which are called by the ringing bells, the gulls take their food at the right time.
*AM: 30: 10, 12: 00
*PM: 15: 00, 30: 14
Restaurant and Shop
There is a shop in the aquarium you can buy original goods of Kamo Aquarium such as manju with jellyfish, yokan and stuffed jellyfish. “Jellyfish Konnyaku” is Yamagata’s famous “Konnyaku balls” in the shape of a jellyfish, and is characterized by its cute package.
Restaurants also offer menus associated with jellyfish such as “Other Meals and Menus” “Jellyfish Ramen” and “Jellyfish Ice Cream”. You can enjoy a delicious meal while looking at the Sea of Japan at the restaurant.
Tsuruoka City Kamo Aquarium
Adress: 657 − 1 Imaizumi Okubo, Tsuruoka-shi, Yamagata
