The Ice Aquarium is a unique attraction located inside the Kesennuma Umi-no-Ichi tourism and shopping complex in Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture. Dedicated to the themes of ice and marine life, the facility is maintained at approximately −20°C (−4°F) throughout the year. As soon as you step inside, you enter a fantastical world that feels completely different from everyday life.
Kesennuma is a port city facing the Sanriku coast, one of Japan’s renowned fishing regions. Ice is essential for keeping freshly landed seafood in good condition during transportation, and Kesennuma has therefore developed sophisticated ice-making technology as an important part of its fishing industry. The Ice Aquarium makes creative use of this local expertise, displaying fish encased in exceptionally clear ice.
Inside the facility, visitors can see seafood landed at Kesennuma Port, including skipjack tuna, Pacific saury, octopus, and rockfish, preserved inside blocks of transparent ice.
The ice used for the displays is frozen slowly over approximately one week. This gradual freezing process helps create the high level of transparency that allows the fish to be clearly visible within the ice.
The types and number of fish on display may vary depending on the season and exhibition. A wide variety of marine life is arranged throughout the facility, creating the impression that a section of the Sanriku sea itself has been frozen in time. Illuminated with colorful lighting, the fish appear almost mysterious as they remain motionless inside the ice.
One of the Ice Aquarium’s most distinctive attractions is its projection mapping. Although the real fish remain motionless inside the ice, images of fish swimming across the walls and ceiling make them appear to come back to life.
Images inspired by the Sanriku sea are combined with light effects, transforming the entire interior into an immersive underwater-like space. The contrast between the motionless fish preserved in ice and the moving images creates a memorable experience that combines stillness and movement.
The projection mapping extends across walls and ceilings, allowing visitors to enjoy the moving images from different directions. With ice displays, light, and video all integrated into one space, the experience can feel as though you have stepped beneath the surface of the sea.
The attraction features more than frozen fish. Visitors can also see a variety of ice sculptures created from the same highly transparent ice.
Among the sculptures is Hoya Boya, the popular tourism character of Kesennuma City. The sculptures add another layer of creativity to the frozen environment and create interesting opportunities for photographs.
The appearance of the ice changes depending on the angle and intensity of the lighting. The combination of sparkling ice, frozen marine life, and sculptures makes the interior particularly photogenic.
The Ice Aquarium also features mural art in addition to its ice displays. Works by Belgian mural artist PSOMEN can be seen on walls inside and around the facility.
The artwork incorporates imagery inspired by ice and marine life and uses distinctive colors and designs to create a memorable atmosphere. The combination of transparent ice and colorful murals gives the facility a character unlike that of a conventional aquarium.
The facility also includes a “Memories of the Earthquake” area. Here, imagery of fish that appear to have stopped in time inside the ice is brought back into motion through video projections across the walls and ceiling.
The exhibition encourages visitors to reflect on the close relationship between the people of Kesennuma and the Sanriku sea, while considering the region’s experience of the disaster, its recovery, and the continuing story of the community.
The Ice Aquarium is located inside Kesennuma Umi-no-Ichi, a tourism and shopping complex next to the Kesennuma City Fish Market. The complex includes shops selling freshly landed seafood and locally produced seafood products, as well as restaurants where visitors can enjoy the flavors of Kesennuma.
On the second floor, visitors can also find a tourism information center and the Shark Museum, which introduces the relationship between Kesennuma and sharks. Visiting these attractions together provides an opportunity to discover Kesennuma through its sea, seafood, food culture, and local industries.
For Kesennuma, seafood is much more than a tourism resource. It has long been an essential part of the local economy and everyday life. Ice, meanwhile, has played an important role in preserving seafood and transporting it while fresh.
The Ice Aquarium turns this practical material into the centerpiece of an unusual attraction. By transforming the ice used in the fishing industry into transparent works of art and frozen displays, the facility presents Kesennuma’s industrial heritage in a creative and memorable way.
The idea that local industrial technology has been transformed into a fantastical tourism experience is one of the most distinctive features of the Ice Aquarium.
Because the interior is maintained at approximately −20°C (−4°F), visitors immediately experience an intense winter-like chill upon entering. Unlike a conventional aquarium, where marine life is viewed in water-filled tanks, the Ice Aquarium displays fish inside blocks of transparent ice.
Free protective clothing is available for visitors, making it easier to enjoy the experience regardless of the season or the clothes you are wearing. The combination of crystal-clear ice, illuminated fish, projection mapping, and ice sculptures creates a truly unusual environment.
The facility offers numerous opportunities for photography, including transparent ice walls, icicles, ice sculptures, frozen fish, and projection-mapped scenes. Because the appearance of the ice changes with the lighting and viewing angle, the same display can look different depending on where you stand.
When exploring Kesennuma, consider visiting the Ice Aquarium in addition to tasting local seafood and exploring the fish market area. It offers a completely different way to experience the culture and character of this historic fishing port.
The Ice Aquarium is located next to the Kesennuma City Fish Market, making it easy to combine with sightseeing around the waterfront.
By car, the journey takes approximately 8 minutes from Kesennuma Shishiori IC on the Sanriku Expressway when approaching from the Iwate direction, or approximately 7 minutes from Kesennuma Port IC when approaching from Sendai.
For visitors using public transportation, JR Kesennuma Station is approximately 10 minutes away by taxi. Direct buses also operate from Sendai Station and Ichinoseki Station toward Kesennuma.
The Ice Aquarium is a one-of-a-kind attraction that combines the bounty of the Sanriku sea with Kesennuma’s traditional ice-making expertise. Inside the −20°C facility, fish are silently preserved within transparent ice, while colorful lighting and projection mapping transform the space into a dreamlike underwater world.
Ice sculptures and mural art add further visual highlights, making this much more than simply a place to experience extreme cold. It is a unique attraction where ice, fish, video, light, and art come together.
During your visit to Kesennuma, put on the provided protective clothing and step into this extraordinary frozen world. The experience offers a memorable way to discover the close connection between the Sanriku sea, the city’s fishing culture, and the creative use of ice.
October-April: 10:00-17:00 (last admission at 16:40)
May-September: 10:00-17:30 (last admission at 17:10)
Unscheduled holidays
Adults 600 yen
Children 400 yen
Preschool children (4 years and older) 100 yen
10 minutes by cab from JR Kesennuma Station
Direct Kesennuma buses are also available from Sendai Station and Ichinoseki Station.