Tokyo Sea Life Park has various departments, including animal care and exhibition staff, and education and outreach staff.

As part of 　the commemorative projects for our 35th anniversary this year, we will be publishing a series of articles titled "The Dreams of Aquarium Leaders," in which leaders from each department will discuss themes such as "the ideal exhibit/aquarium" and "what they want to do and their dreams for their future work."

Episode 8: "The Dreamy Old Man"

♪How many more sleeps until New Year's Day?♪ New Year's Day is just around the corner. I'm Kentaro Amemiya, also known as Ameken, the investigator, and I'm already curious about what kind of dream I'll have on New Year's Day. I'm in charge of the last "Dreams of Leaders" of the year! I'm typing this hoping that it will inspire children who read it to have big dreams for the future.

In my elementary school yearbook, I wrote about my dream for the future: "To be a crew member on a deep-sea tuna fishing boat." I loved the sea and fishing since I was a child, and I was probably a boy who dreamed of catching giant tuna in the open ocean. As time passed, I studied oceanography in college and thoroughly enjoyed the sea through fishing, diving, and surfing. Then, one day after graduation, I found an interesting advertisement in the job listings section of the newspaper.


This faded advertisement, which evokes a sense of a bygone era, marked the beginning of our connection with the aquarium.
It was a job posting for a research staff member at Tokyo Sea Life Park. In short, it was a job to "travel all over the world to collect creatures to be displayed at the aquarium." It sounded interesting, so I sent in my resume, and that was the beginning of my 25-year connection with Tokyo Sea Life Park.

The research team's job is to collect creatures from all over the world to be kept and displayed at the aquarium. Aquariums with a team dedicated to collecting creatures like this are rare even on a global scale. As a member of this research team, I traveled literally all over the world with my seniors, from all over Japan to the Arctic (sphere) in the north, the Antarctic (sphere) in the south, North, Central and South America, Africa, and Europe, conducting research and collecting creatures.


In October 2023, I traveled to Darwin, Australia to collect Nurseryfish
Collecting specimens overseas is a nerve-wracking but enjoyable job.
Through this job, I was able to see oceans all over the world, experience foreign cultures, and gain many valuable experiences such as talking with many people about the ocean and the creatures that live there.

Meanwhile, the research team at the time had a major annual task: collecting and transporting tuna. This began after the Obon festival in August. Local fishermen would catch young tuna in Kasasa Town, Kagoshima Prefecture, and after raising them in pens for a while to build up their strength, they would be transported to Amami Oshima. There, local aquaculture farmers would raise them to a size of about 7 kg, and then they would be brought into the aquarium tanks around May or June of the following year. The month or so in Kasasa in particular was filled with tuna, tuna, tuna from morning till night, and for me, a tuna lover, it was a very enjoyable and dreamlike time.

After that, I worked in the animal care and exhibition department, where I was in charge of raising tuna, and then in the education and outreach department, I was able to take on the role of a mobile aquarium, something I had dreamed of doing ever since I joined the aquarium.

Looking back, I realize I've landed a job that's close to the "dream for the future" I wrote about in my elementary school yearbook, and the dreams I started to pursue after starting this job have also come true.

Do you think I have no more dreams beyond that? No, no, there are still plenty! For example, I'd like to raise and exhibit kappa (mythical Japanese water creatures) (lol), catch a giant marlin in the bright blue waters of Hawaii, or become a tuna grilling shop owner who talks about all sorts of tuna trivia, and so on. There are so many things I want to try.

Now, I've been working towards my dream, but in my younger days, I hit many walls, including failing entrance exams (both high school and university!). Even so, I couldn't give up on my dream of learning about the sea and working in a sea-related field in the future, and there came a moment when I saw a glimmer of hope. I remember that at that moment, I sprinted towards the light and jumped at the opportunity, determined not to let this chance that God had given me slip away. Of course, I also received a lot of help from the people around me, for which I am very grateful! I think that if you all have a dream for the future and pursue it with all your might, you will have a fulfilling life.

This is getting long, so I'll tell you the rest of my dream another time.

Happy New Year, everyone!

[Tokyo Sea Life Park]

◎Related articles
・ Ameken's Deep Sea Exploration Voyage Report, Part 1 (June 27, 2008)
・ Ameken's Deep Sea Exploration Voyage Report, Part Two (July 4, 2008)
・ Ameken's deep-sea research voyage report, part 3 (July 18, 2008)
・ Ameken's Deep Sea Exploration Voyage Report, Part Four (July 25, 2008)
・ Ameken's Deep Sea Exploration Voyage Report - Mariana Islands Edition, Part 1: What are Hydrothermal Vents? (July 30, 2010)
・ Ameken's Deep Sea Exploration Voyage Report - Mariana Islands Edition Part 2: Creatures Living in Hydrothermal Vents (August 6, 2010)
・ Australian collecting report, Part 1 (July 13, 2012)
・ The story of tuna (January 13, 2023)


・Series: 35th Anniversary Project "The Dreams of Aquarium Leaders"
　[1] Thoughts on the exhibits at the aquarium
　[2] The path that aquariums aim for - We want them to always be close to you
　[3] Would you like to get involved in the maintenance and management of the facilities that support the aquarium from behind the scenes?
　[4] Aquariums where you can learn while having fun
　[5] I want to create the ocean
　[6] Aqua Positive
　[7] Aiming for an inclusive aquarium
　[8] The Dreaming Old Man
　[9] The job of a "boatman" at an aquarium - Let's continue the dream together!
　[10] Value hospitality
　[11] What we want to convey from shops and restaurants!! The charm and importance of living things
　[12 (Final Episode)] Thoughts and daily life of the Business Division staff

(December 27, 2024)