Echizen Matsushima Aquarium

Echizen Matsushima Aquarium is built around the idea of learning through seeing, touching, and experiencing. It houses around 350 species of marine life, with a particular focus on fish native to the Sea of Japan, alongside dolphins, seals, otters, and penguins.

The aquarium's bottlenose dolphins put on a show several times a day. A "penguin walk" also takes place a few times a day, during which the birds move freely around the grounds while staff provide information to visitors, and the penguin habitat includes a heart-shaped tank and an underwater tunnel that lets visitors watch the penguins swim overhead. Touch-based exhibits feature stingrays and small shark species, both considered safe to handle, alongside a giant Pacific octopus available for hands-on interaction, while feeding experiences are available with sea turtles, seals, and various fish. The "Coral Sea" tank has a glass floor that visitors can walk or lie across for a view of the fish swimming below, and further exhibits include ocean sunfish (manbo), otters, jellyfish, and other marine life spread across roughly 100 tanks. A typical visit takes 90 to 120 minutes.