Epson Aquarium, Shinagawaしながわ品川
My sister-in-law, Ayaka and I recently took our kids (two 2 1/2 year olds, a 10-month old and a 6 month old) to the Epson Aquarium in Shinagawa. It’s an easy stroll from the Shinagawa station to the aquarium, which is inside one of the Prince Hotels. Although rather small, the Epson Aquarium the kids still found it pretty cool.
When you enter you immediately see a huge aquarium tank tunnel that leads to the rest of the aquarium. As you walk through you can see many sharks and rays swim above and around you. There alone we spent a good 30 minutes with the two toddlers just ooing and pointing at all the sharks swimming past. After making to the other side of the tunnel, we saw more tanks with a variety of colorful saltwater fish and coral. My toddler enjoyed seeing “Nemo” and his friends. “Mommy, what’s that?” he’d keep on saying while staring intently at all the little sea creatures. Another section houses the pengiuns, who were waddling and swimming about. Apart from the aquariums, there are two performance areas – one for a dolphins show and another for a (ashika) sea lions show. The kids didn’t seem so thrilled watching the shows, but even after one month later my son is still saying excitedly, “We saw the ashika!” and “We saw dolphins!”, so I guess he enjoyed it after all.
If you plan to bring your own lunch, there are outdoor chairs and tables nearby. Inside the aquarium, next to the carousel and cafe, a sign posted said the tables and chairs are free space.
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Traveling with a baby? Shinagawa station has plenty of elevators and escalators from all platforms. No problem for strollers. Inside the aquarium, there is a curtained-off section with two chairs for breastfeeding and a changing table inside women’s restroom near the dolphin stadium. But there’s no hot water for formula. It’s pretty stroller friendly inside – wide aisles, elevators and ramps.