Japan’s first underground aquarium, devastated by the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami, will reopen its doors for the first time in April after a multi-million dollar restoration project funded by the country’s government.
Moguranpia Aquarium, part of the Kuji Science Museum complex, was built inside an oil storage base tunnel and opened in 1994 in Kuji on the coast of the Iwate Prefecture.
Originally displaying 2,000 animals across 200 species, the tsunami and quake destroyed the whole facility, killing nearly all of the sea animals on display.
In the five years following the tsunami, the city has been able to rebuild the aquarium thanks to a public government restoration fund. Reopening in April, the expanded offering features some 3,000 animals which now call the aquarium home. One of the aquarium’s most notable attractions will be its popular green turtle, which is one of the few animals to survive the tsunami.
The aquarium moved to a significantly smaller facility in a vacant commercial building in 2011 after the incident, taking loan fish from other aquariums. The redeveloped aquarium greatly expands its floorspace, with its underwater tunnel rebuilt as one of the main attractions. In addition to the new displays throughout the aquarium, officials are also planning displays from ama divers – a practice dating back 2,000 years where female freedivers collect pearls – with exhibitions taking place in a large tank.
