The first aquarium in Japan was established in Kobe. Suma Aqualife Park (formerly Suma Aquarium, known as Sumasui) opened in 1957 and has been enjoyed by people not only from Kobe but from the wider Kansai region.

A number of unique events have been held in recent years, such as “Suma Dolphin Coast” and “Suma Aqua Illuminage.” One of the promoters is Mr. Tatsuya Oshika, Deputy Manager of the Rearing and Exhibition Department (Manager of the same department since April 2015.) He created a wave of changes in Sumasui as an aquarium keeper with experience of public relations.

Photo: Mr. Tatsuya Oshika in front of an exhibition panel of “the secrets of the dolphins’ habits and behavior” at Suma Aqualife Park

My dream to become a keeper came true

Photo: Suma Aquarium bringing back memories of the Showa period

Mr. Oshika was born and brought up in Nagata Ward, Kobe City. He wanted to become a zoo keeper when he was an elementary school student. After graduating from the Livestock Course at Hyogo Prefectural Agricultural High School, he went on to an agricultural college outside Hyogo Prefecture. However, missing Kobe terribly, Mr. Oshika left the college after five days, and returned to Kobe.

At that time, Sumasui was recruiting an aquarium keeper from the general public, for the first and last time in Sumasui’s history. About 130 people applied, and only Mr. Oshika, then aged 18, was hired.

As I had studied raising livestock, I would have liked to work as a keeper at Kobe City Oji Zoo. I visited Sumasui by bike when I was a child and spent much of my free time there. I loved the aquarium, so I applied for the job.

Mr. Oshika had studied raising livestock, but although he had loved fishing since his childhood, he did not know much about fish. He learned about fish and how to raise them while working at the aquarium.


Sumasui became an evacuation center as well as a branch school

In the fourth year of Mr. Oshika’s employment at Sumasui, when he was at home in Nagata Ward, the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake struck. His neighborhood suffered little damage, but when Mr. Oshika drove to the Kobe Municipal Subway Itayado Station, about 2.5 kilometers away from Sumasui, he saw completely different scenes.

Held up in traffic, Mr. Oshika walked to Sumasui. Although the aquarium was not designated as an emergency shelter, about 100 people had evacuated there. While the water tanks for exhibits were unharmed, large formalin containers for specimens were broken, and the entrance hall was filled with a pungent smell. As such, Mr. Oshika guided evacuees to the “Fish Live Pavilion,” collected food within the facility, cooked and provided meals, and delivered futon and blankets for bedding that were borrowed from Suma-sou, a guest house run by the local government.

In addition, some space in Sumasui including its lecture room in the main building was provided as classrooms for Takatori Junior High School, which was also being used as an evacuation center. Sumasui worked as a branch of Takatori Junior High School until March 24 when the closing ceremony for the junior high school was held. The students held the farewell party for graduates in the Dolphin Pavilion in March. Staff of Sumasui arranged a dolphin jumping and handshaking show as a send-off for the graduates.

In 2015, 20 years after the earthquake disaster, Takatori Junior High School held a farewell party for graduates at Sumasui again for the first time in two decades. The former students who came to revive their memories of the disaster were encouraged by a dolphin jumping show, the same arrangement made 20 years ago.


About 70 percent of fish died due to the stoppage of utilities

Photo: Aquarium keepers rescuing living fish and pulling out dead fish together
Out of 2,415 fish, 2,393 died in the “Large Wave Tank”

Utilities at Sumasui were halted immediately after the earthquake disaster for about three days. Various devices such as tank aerators, feeders, and water filters did not work, and this killed about 70 percent of the fish.

Only 22 fish survived out of 2,415 in the Large Wave Tank, the symbol of Sumasui. Rare fish that Sumasui had raised also died, including the Galapagos shark that had been kept for seven years, the blacktip reef shark, one of the largest in Japan, and the round ribbontail ray measuring about two meters in length.

Photo: The empty Large Wave Tank with no water

For the first time since its opening, Sumasui drained all the water out of the Large Wave Tank three days after the earthquake disaster. Keepers pulled out the dead fish together, cut them up, and put them into garbage bags. However, they did not have enough time to be heartbroken. In March, the Kobe City Government asked them to reopen the aquarium as soon as possible to provide citizens a place of relief.

Sumasui had no fish, its devices were broken, and evacuees were sheltered there. So, we had thought it would take at least one year to reopen the aquarium. It was fortunate that various species of fish were donated from other aquariums throughout the country, and we managed to reopen Sumasui with minimum equipment.

Mr. Oshika and other staff worked hard to collect fish from all over Japan, from Hokkaido to Okinawa. As a result, they managed to add 8,623 fish of 329 different species including 2,207 fish of 151 different species donated from 21 aquariums and to reopen Sumasui.


Things that were able to be achieved only by a public relations specialist with experience of keeping fish

Photo: Suma Aqua Illuminage, where visitors can enjoy the aquarium at night
A popular event exciting for both children and adults

Mr. Oshika received a transfer order from Sumasui to the Tourism Exchange Department of Kobe City Hall in 2005. He was, at first, reluctant to accept the order, but learned new things there.

At the Tourism Exchange Department, I promoted universal tourism such as planning trips for people with disabilities, and worked on large projects such as Kobe Luminarie. I recognized the importance of PR, including sending out event information, and realized that such a view was absent in Sumasui.

Three years after his transfer to the Tourism Exchange Department, the public-private partnership system was introduced, and Sumasui was designated as a facility to be managed by a private entity. As such, to return to Sumasui, Mr. Oshika had to resign from his current position at Kobe City Hall to be employed by the designated company managing Sumasui. He chose to leave for a position at Sumasui to work on its public relations.

No one except me resigned from their position at City Hall to return to Sumasui. There were many people who were capable of working in the Tourism Exchange Department, but only I was able to handle public relations and had experience of being a keeper at Sumasui. I felt a sense of mission and returned to Sumasui.

Responsible for public relations at Sumasui, Mr. Oshika carried out many reforms. He increased the number of press releases ten-fold from two to three a month, and planned many programs from the viewpoint of a keeper. One of them is the “Suma Dolphin Coast Project” started in 2014.

Photo: “Suma Dolphin Coast Project”: Two dolphins jumping in the sea of Suma!

In this project, two dolphins swim in the sea off Suma Beach in July and August, and many programs are offered such as “Seaside Dolphin Watching” where visitors can touch dolphins on the beach. Mr. Oshika deepened cooperation between Sumasui and local communities through various activities such as planning and selling promotion goods and cleaning the beach.

At present, Mr. Oshika is a deputy chairman of the local shopping mall of Wakamiya. The shopping mall changed its name to Wakamiya Shopping Mall Dolphin Road in the spring of 2015 to boost the local economy with Sumasui. In this way, Sumasui increased opportunities to work with various types of organizations and promote Sumasui events, and as a result, the number of visitors stopped declining.


Sumasui’s strength is that it has no special creature

Photo: Dolphin live show at Sumasui. Children from a kindergarten visiting Sumasui shouting for joy

Mr. Oshika believes that Sumasui can keep various species and try out different programs because it has no special creature that you cannot see at any other aquariums.

Photo: A woman who realized her first dream in the New Year to make food for her favorite animal, dolphins!

Photo: A man who fulfilled his first dream in the New Year to have a 3.6 meter-long anaconda around his neck. Mr. Oshika is in charge of anaconda exhibition planning

For example, in an exhibition to commemorate the World Cup, three varieties of sea creatures predicted the outcomes of the matches, and in “Sumasui First Dream of the Year Project,” five people chosen from the general public had their dreams come true. These programs can never happen without ideas and cooperation of keepers who understand sea creatures well.

Waterside Petting Park opened on the rooftop observation space in March 2015. Based on the concept of Sumasui creating an old familiar rooftop playground like the ones that used to be set up on the rooftop of a department store, a footbath for visitors has been built next to a water tank of capybaras so that visitors can feel like they are taking a bath with capybaras.

When I look at the programs at Sumasui, I feel as if they tell us that the habits of these creatures are really interesting, which makes me feel like dropping in to visit Sumasui. And then after some visits, Sumasui will have eventually become my favorite place. Now, Sumasui has such an appeal.


What if an earthquake hits Kobe again?



Mr. Oshika’s favorite creatures in Sumasui are the creatures on Suma Beach. I think his love of Kobe and Sumasui is a large driving force to steer the current Sumasui, and is a power to connect people and to send messages to connect local communities.

What if the same level of earthquake hits Kobe again? I do not think that it’s possible to save all the fish in the aquarium. But your actions completely change depending on whether you expect an earthquake or not. Taking precautions is essential. What you can do is based on what you have learned.

(Interviewed and written by Kyoko Sugimoto)
This article was created with the cooperation of greenz.jp.