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The True Nature of Aquariums Vol. 2 |
Aquariums and Learning

Aquariums as Spaces for Social Education

Under Japan's Museum Act, museums — including aquariums — are designated as "institutions for social education." The Japan Association of Zoos and Aquariums (JAZA) also lists four core roles: ①species conservation, ②education and environmental education, ③research and study, and ④recreation. Education, in other words, is a foundational mission.

Aquariums have always been positioned as places that contribute to society through learning, and educational initiatives — through exhibits and hands-on programs — are carried out at facilities across the country.
Simply looking at exhibits or reading explanatory panels tends to be a passive experience. But when a participatory program is added to the mix, the experience shifts dramatically — from passive to active.

In education today, there is growing emphasis on active learning: rather than simply receiving knowledge from a teacher, students are encouraged to think for themselves, speak up, and use their hands. The same principle applies to aquariums — designing experiences where visitors think for themselves and deepen their understanding through doing.

What Only Programs Can Offer

Within an aquarium, hands-on programs have two unique qualities that no other element can replicate.

１. The only space for output
While viewing an exhibit, visitors are essentially receivers of information. Programs, by contrast, invite participants to actively think, move, and express — shifting them from audience to participant.

2. Participation that builds a love for living creatures
When you make something with your own hands — a craft, an observation record — that act of making becomes a special memory, and with it comes a sense of attachment to the subject. In behavioral economics, this is known as the IKEA Effect: the tendency to place greater value on things we've created ourselves. Active participation in a program becomes a gateway to feeling a personal connection with animals and nature.

Designing the Journey from "?" to "!"

The first thing to keep in mind when building a program is this: most visitors are not wildlife enthusiasts. The majority of guests wander through exhibits without quite knowing what to look at or how to look at it. That's why we design experiences with a clear arc in mind — guiding participants from "?" (curiosity) to "!" (discovery).

? — The Question

The starting point is sparking a sense of "why?" or "how?" — whether through a well-placed question or by pointing out something worth noticing. Not knowing is where learning begins. In an age where a quick internet search or AI tool can instantly dissolve uncertainty, we want visitors to experience something different: standing before a real living creature and enjoying the feeling of not knowing. That's why we deliberately hold back the answers and expert explanations — we design for the productive discomfort of wondering.

! — The Discovery

Next, we create experiences that help participants resolve their questions through action, or that nudge them toward their own discoveries. Whether through observation, quizzes, or hands-on crafts, the goal is always the same: a moment where something clicks — seen with your own eyes, felt with your own hands.

From the experience design of "Kingyo Iro Awase" (Goldfish Color Matching)

Let me introduce the "？ to ！" flow through a program I designed called Kingyo Iro Awase — "Goldfish Color Matching." The theme is the color of goldfish. Aquariums display goldfish in a rich variety of colors, yet most visitors pass by with only a vague impression of "red fish." So we began the experience with a simple question: "What color do you think goldfish are?" Rather than giving the answer right away, we let a small sense of "hmmm, I'm not sure" linger in visitors' minds as they moved on to the next step.

That next step was a workshop where participants created their own goldfish by attaching colored paper to a goldfish-shaped card. We prepared five colors of materials that shared the same translucent quality as actual goldfish pigments. As children freely combined colors of their choosing, they naturally discovered surprising things about goldfish color — like "the part that looks pink is actually made by layering red and white!" Finally, participants attached a tag to their finished goldfish — a tag bearing a name they had chosen themselves.

This is, in fact, the same mechanism as naming your protagonist in an RPG. By giving a name that carries personal feeling and individual sensibility — rather than receiving a pre-made character — the experience shifts instantly from objective to subjective. What began as "a goldfish craft at the aquarium" transforms, the moment a name is given, into "my goldfish, the one I made" — a powerful sense of personal ownership. This switch to the subjective is the trigger that pulls visitors beyond passive observation into active engagement.
The finished goldfish are placed in clear drawstring bags — the kind familiar from traditional goldfish scooping games — to take home. Because the contents are visible and carry a festive, fair-like feeling, some visitors carry them right back to look at the goldfish in the tank once more. And when they do, the goldfish they had glanced at only moments before look completely different. "That goldfish has the same shape as the one I made!" "The goldfish I thought was red actually had so many different colors mixed in!" — That moment is the "！".
Rather than explaining things in detail, the goal is to change the very act of "seeing" through experience. That is the true power of a well-designed program.

Three changes that emerge beyond the experience

The programs we design spark small changes within participants:

We aim to spark changes like these in our participants:
　① Change in behavior: "I want to go back and look at that exhibit again" — returning to the tank
　② Change in thinking: "Oh, you're right!" — resolving a question and making a discovery through one's own effort
　③ Change in feeling: Coming away with a greater fondness for living creatures than before

Each change may be small on its own, but as they accumulate, the aquarium transforms in value — from a place of passive reception to a space of active learning. And the driving force behind all of it is simply the feeling of "that was fun!" It is within that joy that deep understanding and self-directed curiosity take root. We will continue to focus not merely on displaying knowledge, but on offering learning experiences that begin with "this is exciting!" — and always will.

Ayako Horikawa

Founder, DESIGN STUDIO KAISUI
An experience designer specializing in aquariums, working across exhibition design, spatial design, and program development.
After gaining experience in operations and exhibition design at Sumida Aquarium and spatial design at UDS Ltd., she established her own studio. She has been involved in exhibition direction and program development for the urban aquarium AOAO SAPPORO.
Her work focuses on designing environments that cultivate observation, curiosity, and wonder.
She holds a Master’s degree from Tokyo University of the Arts.
Author of “A Day in the Life of Aquariums: Creatures and People” (Fukuinkan Shoten).
Member of the Japan Society of Exhibition Studies and JAGDA.