Hidden Beneath Tokyo Skytree: Sumida Aquarium — A Perfect Stop After Shopping in Tokyo

If you're visiting Tokyo, Japan, you've certainly noticed the Tokyo Skytree piercing the skyline. What you might not expect is that tucked away on the 5th and 6th floors of the tower is Japan's second aquarium — Sumida Aquarium — offering a unique itinerary option beyond shopping and sightseeing in central Tokyo. The aquarium runs entirely on artificial seawater, which not only reduces the carbon emissions from trucking ocean water inland, but also ensures a consistently stable water quality to support delicate and diverse marine life displays. The must-sees at Sumida Aquarium are the garden eel exhibit and the penguin exhibit. Beyond these, the entire venue uses interactive art and atmospheric lighting installations to deliver a curatorial experience unlike anything you'd find at aquariums in Taiwan — a testament to the remarkable attention to detail that Japanese curators bring to their craft.

Before diving into the Sumida Aquarium experience, it's worth acknowledging that many divers and environmentalists believe these animals belong in the wild rather than confined to small display tanks. That said, if spaces like this can use entertainment and education to help city-dwellers connect with marine life and the ocean, perhaps they can be seen as a tolerable, necessary compromise. The Vancouver Aquarium in Canada, for example, uses its exhibits as an ongoing platform to educate the public about the importance of ocean plastics and marine rescue — arguably far more effective than dry, dogmatic campaigns.

How to Buy Tickets for Sumida Aquarium

Sumida Aquarium is located beneath Tokyo Skytree and is within walking distance of Oshiage Station on the subway. The shopping complex surrounding Skytree is quite large, with wings extending to both sides of the tower, so it's worth studying the floor map in advance to avoid getting turned around. Since Sumida Aquarium sits beneath one of Tokyo's top tourist attractions, its opening hours are longer than most aquariums — daily from 09:00 to 21:00 — giving you plenty of flexibility to fit it into your itinerary.

• General admission: ¥2,500

• High school students: ¥1,500

• Junior high and elementary school students: ¥1,000

• Children (aged 3 and above): ¥600

Before buying tickets, it's worth checking KKDAY or KLOOK for a Skytree + Aquarium combo ticket — there are sometimes surprisingly good deals. Japan is also actively promoting mobile payments right now, so many popular attractions offer a discount on tickets when purchased as e-tickets in advance!
Klook.com

The Entrance to Sumida Aquarium Beneath Tokyo Skytree

Situated in the densely packed heart of Tokyo, Sumida Aquarium is smaller in scale than other aquariums in the city, with fewer species and individual fish on display — but its incredibly convenient location more than makes up for it.

Upon entering, visitors are welcomed by several tanks showcasing natural aquatic landscapes (the Editor breezed through this section). The next exhibit draws you into a mesmerising, club-like jellyfish zone, where clever lighting transforms the transparent jellyfish into otherworldly, multi-coloured apparitions. Sumida Aquarium has also set aside an open backstage area where visitors can get an up-close look at the fascinating — and often demanding — work of caring for marine animals. When the Editor visited, a staff member happened to be giving jellyfish a "bath" using a tiny pipette. Unable to understand Japanese, the Editor could only watch enviously as children and staff chatted away with great enthusiasm. Still, this kind of interactive zone undeniably brings children closer to marine life in a more meaningful way than the touch pools commonly found at aquariums in Taiwan.

After the dazzling jellyfish zone, you're greeted by a row of vertical tanks in the coral reef exhibit. The undisputed stars here are the utterly adorable garden eels. The Editor has always found it puzzling that garden eels dive shyly into the sand the moment a diver approaches underwater, yet here in a tank you can observe them from an incredibly close distance — they are absolutely delightful! Nearby, there is also a small ecological restoration tank where a baby sea turtle is slowly growing up among sargassum, with the hope that one day it will be able to swim freely in the "Tokyo Grand Tank" introduced below.

Must-See Highlights at Sumida Aquarium

After your encounter with the garden eels, it's time for the main events at Sumida Aquarium — the Tokyo Grand Tank and the penguin pavilion! The Tokyo Grand Tank recreates the underwater ecosystem of the Ogasawara Islands — Tokyo's only UNESCO World Heritage Site, located some 1,000 km from the city — housing 500 fish across 55 different species in one spectacular large-scale tank, inviting visitors to marvel at the wonders of the natural world. The penguin pavilion is one of Japan's largest indoor open-top tanks, using lighting to simulate the natural rhythms of dawn, day, dusk, and night, allowing these charming guests from distant lands to live as naturally as possible. Once you're inside, be sure to check the feeding schedule — watching penguins being fed up close is absolutely adorable!

Sumida Aquarium's Special Feature — Just How Complicated Are the Penguins' Love Lives?

Beyond the individual species exhibits, the displays reveal a typically Japanese attention to detail. Highlights include a wonderfully elaborate relationship chart mapping the social connections between the penguins — good for a chuckle — as well as interactive installations and atmospheric light art that give the entire venue a character completely unlike a conventional aquarium. Kids could honestly spend half a day here without getting bored.

There are of course other aquarium options within Tokyo beyond Sumida Aquarium, though distance is a factor worth considering. Sumida Aquarium may be smaller in scale, but its location directly beneath Tokyo Skytree — and just a short distance from Asakusa — makes it an ideal add-on to a full day of sightseeing. Information on other aquariums is listed below as well.

Klook.com

Related links:

• Sumida Aquarium Official Website (Chinese)

• Klook Tokyo Skytree + Sumida Aquarium Combo Ticket

• Klook Shinagawa Aquarium Ticket

• Klook Sunshine Aquarium Ticket

• 【Osaka, Japan】A World-Class Mega Aquarium! Complete Guide to Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan

• Dive with Nurse Sharks, Stingray, and Hammerhead Sharks — Right Here in Taiwan: Penghu Aquarium Opening Countdown