...1.7...Japan day EIGHT...

...we packed everyone in the car for a long drive...

...some of us went to sleep...

...some of us enjoyed the views...

...we stopped for snacks...I should do a whole post on their convenience stores...conbini...they are pretty amazingly well stocked...

...island views...

...and a working harbor...

...lots of boats...

...then we arrived here...at the Aquarium...

...the impressive entry...looking out to the sea...

...the first tank we saw was being cleaned...a pretty amazing process...he has a suction cup in one hand that keeps him in position...and he often waves at the children...so sweet...

...just heading down the tunnel path...

...viewing lots of smaller aquariums (aquaria?)...still huge though...

...to get to the main 3 story tall tank...housing this guy...a whale shark...and he's a small one too...they used to have two...but one is out at sea now...

...the most crowded place we've been so far...

...it was feeding time...so we got to see him opening his huge mouth to filter all the tiny plankton...

...we had a good view from the mezzanine...

...they have a cutaway of the glass you're looking through into the aquarium...

...603 mm...23.7402 inches...that's pretty thick...

...outside...

...there's a pretty beach area...

...and a view out to another small island...remember Japan is an island country with nearly 7000 islands...but only about 421 are inhabited...this one is...Our Airman stayed there on vacay in an AirBnb...he said they had to drive back across the bridge to get any groceries or anything as it was just sort of resort homes...

...on the way out they had this awesome mister for the kids to run through and play in...

....my lunch on the way home...also from a conbini...

~Have a lovely day!