Kinosaki Marine World SeaZoo

The fish displays area "SeaZoo" at Kinosaki Marine World in Toyooka City, Hyogo Prefecture, is celebrating its 30th anniversary and will reopen on July 25, 2024. The concept of the newly completed displays "CUBE" at "SeaZoo" is "Towards an aquarium with more conversation." The aim is to create a new displays style that encourages curiosity, new discoveries, and free thinking by learning together through conversations with creatures and keepers, 20 cube-shaped aquariums, illustrations, and graphic boards.

・I want to become an aquarium at Hiyoriyama Beach.
・We want to be an aquarium that stimulates intellectual curiosity.
-We want to be an aquarium that conveys the individuality and characteristics of the fish in a simple manner.
・We want to be an aquarium where visitors can be moved by the creatures that live there.
The above request was made.

We place importance on real conversations between visitors and between visitors and zookeepers, and we make efforts to ensure that visitors can learn on their own and become more interested in the creatures.

The role of the zookeepers is to connect the creatures with the visitors. They encourage visitors' interest and deepen their knowledge by learning from the creatures, conveying the excitement of nurturing life, and answering questions directly. A communication board with the zookeepers' words and illustrations has been set up next to the aquarium tanks. In order to make the zookeepers feel closer to them while making use of their personalities and feelings, the expressions are not standardized, and each zookeeper writes down their own observations and what they want to communicate in their own words. The spatial concept design limits the information like in a museum, concept design visitors to focus on the aquarium tanks themselves and enjoy the exhibits while having conversations.

Each tank displays to resemble the natural habitat of the creatures, allowing visitors to see their lively behavior and the dramas and stories that emerge from them. At Hiyoriyama Coast, the local "Tayui Wetlands," which are registered under the Ramsar Convention and are home to the Blue Carbon Project to protect the ocean, have been recreated along with the creatures themselves. Visitors can learn about the local marine life and environment while also feeling the passion of the keepers.