【Exhibition ended】“Floating Aquarium” Exhibit Travels the Four Oki Islands

From May 2024 until January 2025, the four Oki Islands hosted “Floating Aquarium,” a portable aquarium. This travelling exhibit that visited the four islands was held for the purposes of teaching about the Oki Islands’ sea and introducing the issue of marine debris in that sea. 

A total of 15 species that can be found in the sea around the Oki Islands were displayed on the four islands, including boxfish, porcupinefish, grunt fish, and knifejaws. 

There was also an exhibit that explained the characteristics of the sea around the Oki Islands, the behaviors and characteristics of creatures that inhabit our waters, and its connection to other bodies of water. It did this by displaying various creatures, such marine animals that ride the Tsushima Warm Current to the Oki Islands and those that can be seen year-round in the waters surrounding the islands. 

The exhibition was curated with the idea that these creatures could provide a hint that would deepen the visitors’ understanding of the sea around the Oki Islands in addition to teaching visitors about these creatures. 

A hands-on exhibit area was installed for visitors to not just see, but also to experience the characteristics of the sea around the Oki Islands. For example, a weather sharing spot was created as a place for visitors to feel the effects that the Tsushima Warm Current has on the sea near the islands. 

Other than that, the effect of debris that floats to the Oki Islands on marine life was also introduced. Even things that are well-known on the islands were unknown to visitors from outside the islands, and so we continued this exhibit from last fiscal year. 

At the Ama Town exhibition, a panel assisted visitors in understanding the exhibit in English. Although this was initially intended for inbound tourists, the use of the panels by foreigners living on the islands confirmed that these panels were useful for not just tourism, but also for spreading awareness within the islands as well. 

A survey of exhibition visitors revealed that residents of the four islands represented the main portion of visitors, with people in their 20s to 50s reporting “I learned something about the sea near the Oki Islands” and “I have a deeper understanding of the sea near the Oki Islands now.” 

These survey results confirmed that the purposes of this exhibit mentioned at the beginning of this activity report, to teach about the sea near the Oki Islands and introduce the issue of marine debris in those waters, were achieved. 

―Exhibition period and visitor countー 

Location	Exhibition Period  （2024-2025）	Venue	No. of Visitors to the Exhibiting Facility
Nishinoshima Town	5/9–5/23	Nishinoshima Furusato-kan Museum	297
Okinoshima Town	8/3–8/18	Oki Islands Geopark Museum	977
Chibu Village	10/9–10/12	Library Exchange Space	※1
Ama Town	1/11–1/6	Entô Geo Lounge	153

The visitor count represents increased traffic to each facility when compared to the same time period during the previous fiscal year. 

The exhibit is considered to have made an impact by being the place where people initially become aware of and understand the sea surrounding the Oki Islands. 

※1: Visitor numbers were not counted in Chibu Village.