Leading the blind to the aquarium

Recently some of my photos have been used in a publication dealing with access for visually-impaired people.

The photos were taken from an earlier post, Leading the blind, on the tactile floor markers used as guides.

While scouring through my files looking for the originals I came across this sequence of photos of the same subject. All of them were taken at Aquas, our local aquarium.

I find it intriguing that something designed for those with poor or no sight could be so visually striking.

I also like them because it is very easy to photograph them and have them look like the paintings I used to do back in the day......

Round Windows: looking in (modern)

The last post, for a while at least, on circular windows in Japan. These are in Milky Way Hall in Gotsu.

This one is at the local aquarium, Aquas.

These are the doors to the Treasure House/ Storeroom of a shrine in Yamaguchi City. Gandalf or Dumbledore or Santa is being watched by a komainu

This one is at the Contemporary Art Museum in Hiroshima City.

And another one from Aquas

Inside Aquas

When I went inside Aquas Aquarium I didn't actually spend a lot of time looking at the fish! I wandered around looking at the light and space for shots to photograph.

The cafe area is glass and steel, so easy for a cliche shot!

The windows high up in the "fin" and ceiling were cool.

The building was designed by Nikken Sekkei Company, who I recently learned also designed the Fukuoka Tower.

I'm a sucker for circular windows, and Aquas has them in internal walls as well as external.

More post on Aquas

The bridge at Aquas revisited.

I've posted pics of the bridge at Aquas before, but on our recent visit there the light and weather was different, so I post some more.

More posts on Aquas

Around Aquas

Last week when we went to Aquas we didn't actually go into the aquarium, but explored behind it (there is no entrance fee to the park :))

I was very pleasantly surprised, it is a nicely landscaped garden with artificial stream and pond.

There is a solar-heated atrium, and from inside it one can descend and come out

...behind an artificial waterfall.

There is a big playground for the kids ( and adults who can appreciate it :)
The bright, sculptural play area was designed by painter Kei Amatsu who lives in Tsuwano and who has executed a lot of public art in Shimane and across Japan.

And of course, across the bridge in front of the aquarium is 5 kilometres of fine sandy beach.

All in all, you can spend a pleasant few hours at Aquas without spending any money

More posts on Aquas

Aquas (outside)

The Aquas aquarium building is not much to look at as you speed by on Rte. 9, but a closer look reveals that it represents a shark

Opened in 2000, the building was designed by the Nikken Sekkei design company.

The dorsal fin?

The main body.

The mouth, "Jaws"!

and the tail.

Recently opened was a new Penguin House, a white concrete box to the side of the mouth. Maybe it represents a big piece of polystyrene trash that litters Japanese beaches. I once showed some photos of beaches in Cornwall to some neighbors, and the first question they asked was "where is the trash?". I've been repeatedly told that the mountains of trash on Japan Sea beaches comes from Korea, and some of it indeed does, but most of it has kanji, hiragana and katakana on it, meaning its from Japan.

More posts on Aquas

Aquas Aquarium

Aquas is the largest aquarium in western Honshu and is located within Iwami Seaside Park on Route 9 between Hamada and Gotsu. More than 400 species of critters are on display.There are lots of flying fishes, the Prefectural fish.

The changing colors of the Cuttlefish fascinated me. It had been more than 40 years since I had been to an aquarium, and I was pleasantly surprised at the displays and environment, not the dark, damp, concrete structures I remember from my childhood.

What fascinated me the most were the jellyfish, particularly the gentle writhing of their (tails? tendrils?

I kept coming back to them.

There is a transparent tunnel under the largest tank filled with turtles, sharks, and all manner of aquatic beings.

The main attraction is a show by a pair of white Belugas. Apparently they blow bubble rings. I didn't see the show as I was too busy watching the jellyfish.

Beluga & Bridge.

This is the official manhole cover for the City of Hamada, the capital of Iwami. It's population is a little over 60, 000, but most of those people live in nearby towns and villages that are now encompassed by Hamada's administrative district. Two of the main elements of the design are a Beluga whale, and the Great marine Bridge.

The Beluga represents a pair that are the main attraction at nearby Aquas Oceanarium, the largest aquarium in western Honshu.

The Great Marine Bridge is a 7 billion yen boondoggle that connects Hamad Port with the tiny island of Setgashima.

Setogashima has a tiny fishing village. The island is already connected to the mainland by a 10 metre long bridge, so the Great Marine Bridge serves no function other than to generate profits fro the construction and engineering industry.

The bridge at Aquas.

First-time visitors driving along Route 9 or passing by on the train through Hashi always point to the tower of the bridge at Aquas and ask "What is it?". From a distance the 46 metre tall curved tower doesn't look like a bridge at all. I'm not a civil engineer, but I believe it is an unusual form of cable-stayed bridge.

The curve of the tower represents a wave, and the 130m long bridge connects one of the fine, white, sandy beaches of Iwami Seaside Park with Aquas, the biggest and best aquarium in west Honshu.

The tiled surface of blues continues the theme of the sea. Built in 1996, as yet I have been unable to find out who designed it.