UWS AQUARIUM GA☆KYO, an aquarium themed around Japanese "miyabi" elegance on the third floor of Aquacity Odaiba in Minato, Tokyo, will close on Monday, August 31, 2026, about four years after opening on July 13, 2022. The venue's five spaces, each built around a different piece of Japanese tradition or legend, have drawn praise from visitors in Japan and abroad. As of August 2026, it is the only aquarium in Japan to receive TripAdvisor's "Travelers' Choice 2026" award, and it ranks first in Tokyo by traveler recommendations. Every tank in the building is for sale as a complete piece, environment included, and the sight that Odaiba visitors have grown fond of is now down to its final weeks.
Japan's Only Travelers' Choice 2026 Winner Among Aquariums
TripAdvisor's Travelers' Choice award recognizes destinations that have earned strong support from travelers, based on reviews and ratings posted over the previous 12 months, honoring the top 10 percent of listed venues each year.
UWS AQUARIUM GA☆KYO received the 2026 award. As of August 2026, it is the only winner among Japan's aquariums, and it also ranks first in Tokyo overall.
Since opening in 2022, the aquarium has offered English-language signage and explanations of its concept, designed with visitors from overseas in mind. Its five spaces, each themed around Japanese tradition and legend, have earned praise from both domestic and international visitors.
Comment from Representative Director Gakyo Miyazawa
We have received TripAdvisor's "Travelers' Choice 2026" award. I want to offer my heartfelt thanks for being chosen, as of August 2026, as the only winning aquarium in Japan.
I'm deeply grateful to everyone who visits us regularly, and to everyone who has traveled all the way to Odaiba from around the world. Each voice we received became this recognition, just as it was given to us.
This place began during a time when visitors from abroad had stopped coming to Japan, out of thinking about how we could express something distinctly Japanese from within the country. Bringing together goldfish along with tropical and marine fish and many other kinds of creatures within a "wa" (Japanese) aesthetic, we aimed for spaces where stillness and movement coexist. Lining up fish was never the goal. Starting from how we wanted people to feel, we worked backward to design the creatures, the light, and the materials.
What I wanted to express was not flashiness or an abundance of information, but the feeling that lives in empty space. I believe that is what led to this recognition from visitors who came from abroad.
We will finish our roughly four years in business on August 31, but until the very last day, we will welcome guests just as we always have. To build a future where people around the world simply know that aquariums are entertainment born in Japan, we will keep creating, in a new place.
Bringing Japan-Inspired Aquarium Art to New Places After Closing
Alongside selling the works on display inside the aquarium, Gakyo Miyazawa will continue creating new aquariums after the venue closes.
UWS AQUARIUM GA☆KYO stands as proof that a space combining Japanese culture with aquarium design can resonate with visitors from overseas. Going forward, this style of work will not be limited to a single facility: pieces will be created one at a time for commercial buildings, hotels and ryokan, restaurants, offices, municipal tourism facilities, homes, and other settings, each suited to its own location and purpose. For facilities that welcome visitors from abroad, the goal is a space that creates an experience distinct to that place; for companies and homes, a work that creates scenery found nowhere else. Every detail, from the scale of the tank to the creatures and layout, is designed individually.
Where the aquarium art appreciated by travelers from overseas at GA☆KYO will take shape next, and in what form, remains to be seen. The roughly four years in Odaiba will carry forward into what comes next.
Facility Overview
UWS AQUARIUM GA☆KYO expresses Japan's "miyabi" through aquarium design, remixing traditions and legends such as the Dragon Palace, kaleidoscopes, and oiran processions. It is produced by aquarium creator Gakyo Miyazawa, known as "GAKYO MIYAZAWA," and offers five distinct spaces meant to be experienced with all five senses, pairing the delicate and bold beauty of Japanese design with the beauty of living creatures born from nature.
Since opening on July 13, 2022, the facility has offered every tank in the building for sale, environment included, as part of an effort to expand what retail can offer. Prices range from several million yen to 47.5 million yen per piece, covering the tank, stand, equipment, layout materials, fish, and design fees; construction and transport costs are billed separately. After purchase, staff visit the buyer's home or office to recreate the same layout as the display.
The Five Spaces
Area 1: Wabisabi
A space built from delicate driftwood, bonsai, and crystal that embodies Japanese sensibility, where nishikigoi swim gracefully amid the sound of water, the scent of young grass, and the powerful presence of driftwood, like a scene from an ink-wash hanging scroll.
Area 2: Oiran
Goldfish, living works of art, are styled as oiran in flowing, elaborate robes, drifting through a space reimagined in a neo-Japanesque style inspired by oiran processions.
Area 3: Mangekyo
Using reflected light, this space reimagines the kaleidoscope, a traditional Japanese illusion that shifts through countless forms, built together with Mirror Ballers, a Japanese collective working with mirrored spheres, centered on colorful ornamental fish. Paintings by Tsuyoshi Nigamushi add wide-ranging visual direction, drawing visitors into an overwhelming alternate world.
Area 4: Yuraku
Yuraku means to play and enjoy. Set in a space themed around Japan's four seasons, this exhibit zone lets visitors experience "Intera Kingyo Mikuji," which combines interactive technology, goldfish scooping, and fortune-slip drawing.
Area 5: Ryugu
The main space for Miyazawa's aquarium world-building, imagining the Dragon Palace beneath the sea off Odaiba, Tokyo. Aquarium, terrarium, driftwood art, and tank art combine with bold, unconventional ideas from GA☆KYO to upend the usual idea of what an aquarium can be, the culmination of Miyazawa's 30 years as an aquarium creator.
Visit Information
- Hours: Weekdays 11:00 AM to 8:00 PM; Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays 11:00 AM to 9:00 PM (hours may vary to match Aquacity Odaiba's operating hours)
- Admission: Adults ¥1,500 (junior high school age and up); Children ¥800 (elementary school age); free for children below elementary school age
- Location: Aquacity Odaiba 3F, 1-7-1 Daiba, Minato-ku, Tokyo
- Website: https://uws-gakyo.com
