Visit the Shikoku Aquarium to see adorable otters enjoying snacks and impressive dolphin performances

After getting off at Utazu Station, we had lunch at the delicious bento shop Hokka Hokka Tei.
After finishing our meal, we continued walking to Shikoku Aquarium. It’s a place where you can easily spend a whole afternoon. Many visitors either drive and park in nearby paid lots or, like us, take the train and walk about 12 minutes from Utazu Station. Since we only had two days left in our trip, we had already returned our rental car.

At the entrance of Shikoku Aquarium, we bought tickets to enter.
The weather was cloudy that day because a typhoon was approaching Japan, so we brought umbrellas with us to avoid getting wet on the way back to the hotel. After buying our tickets, we quickly looked over the map—most of the exhibits are spread across the 1st and 2nd floors. We learned that the Utazu area used to have salt fields dating back to the Edo period, much like the Qigu Salt Fields in Taiwan, although they no longer exist today.

There happened to be a special exhibition called “骸展” ,

featuring the skeletal beauty of various creatures, created by specimen artist 光岡紫乃. It was incredibly impressive.

The skeletal displays were very detailed and fascinating—there were snake skeletons, along with skulls of penguins, ostriches, otters, frogs, and sloths. Without fur, it was sometimes hard to tell what animal it was!

Next, we explored many aquariums inside.
In addition to clownfish and sea anemones, there were so many other marine creatures we’d never seen before. I particularly enjoyed watching jellyfish and squids swimming—they looked so unique and mesmerizing.

Soon it was time for the dolphin show,
so we headed over to the outdoor dolphin pool, where we could even see the nearby ocean. The dolphin performance was incredible—not only did we witness a rare vertical spinning move, but the dolphins also leapt impressively high.

Toward the end, there was even a synchronized group jump that was perfectly timed. The dolphins here are truly adorable.

↑ Amazing dolphin performance

Then it was time to see the penguins.
At first, the penguins were either swimming or preparing to dive. The penguin feeding and roll-call event captivated the audience. Every penguin had a name, and during feeding time, they even fought over food! One of the keepers saved a small fish for a penguin that was inside a nesting box and couldn’t come out.

Next up was the otter feeding time.
Before the feeding, the otter kept biting a piece of cloth. When the keeper finally arrived, it got super excited and eagerly ate the fish meat that was stuck to the glass panel.

↑The adorable otter at Shikoku Aquarium

It was our first time in Japan seeing such a massive aquarium tank—”The View of Watatsumi,” the largest display tank in Shikoku.
It stands at 5.5 meters tall—absolutely huge. In this calming space, you can truly relax both body and mind while watching the fish slowly swim by. There are plenty of seats right in front of the tank, perfect for a short break.

The final feeding show featured two adorable seals.
They seemed to sense it was snack time and occasionally poked their heads out of the water to look for the keeper. When it was time, they followed hand signals to perform cute movements—super charming.

That afternoon was incredibly peaceful and relaxing.
Although it was cloudy and eventually started drizzling, being surrounded by these heartwarming animals lifted our spirits.