Fishy Japanese Art: Nihonbashi Art Aquarium

Japan is certainly the place to go if you want to experience modern and unique types of art. One example of this is the immensely popular Art Aquarium exhibition, where art is created using a selection of specially selected fish as fish tanks. The first Art Aquarium exhibition was held in 2011 when the famous Nihonbashi bridge celebrated its 100th anniversary. This year the Art Aquarium Exhibition was held for the fifth time in Nihonbashi, but even though the event already has been held multiple years in a row we still had to queue up for 90 minutes in order to get in.

Nihonbashi Art Aquarium

Entrance to the exhibition

As the name of the exhibition suggests you can see a range of fish tanks shaped in different forms and sizes. What separates this exhibition from a regular aquarium is that the fish tanks come in all kinds of fancy shapes, and that they light ups in different colours creating an exciting backdrop for the colourful fish that swims lazily around inside the tanks. Here are some of my pictures from the exhibition:

Taking pictures of the fish

A kimono with gold fish pattern

Details on the kimono

From Art Aquarium's official page

Kids watching tiny goldfish 

Fish and Japanese sake

The last day of the Art Aquarium exhibition in Tokyo was held on September 23rd, but the Art Aquarium is being held in Okinawa from Sep. 18, 2015 (fri) – Nov. 15 (sun). If you plan on a trip to Okinawa you can check out the official page for the Art Aquarium exhibition in Okinawa.

Art Aquarium Official Page

Art Aquarium Okinawa

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Anette

About Anette
Anette came to Japan as an exchange student in 2010, met the love of her life and got stuck. From her base in Tokyo she writes about her experiences as a full-time worker in Tokyo and about her travels in Japan and abroad. She's a free-spirited adventurer who enjoys both the great outdoors and her urban lifestyle.