---
name: "Kagoshima City Aquarium (Io World)"
lat: 31.596
lng: 130.5648
official_url: "https://ioworld.jp/"
fee: "Adults (high school and up) ¥2,000, children (primary and junior-high) ¥1,000. Groups of 20 or more get a discount. Kagoshima city residents pay a lower rate but must show proof of address themselves. Admission is free for holders of a disability certificate, with one companion also free. People aged 70 and over living in Kagoshima, Kumamoto, Fukuoka or Kitakyushu pay half. There is no aquarium car park; the three prefectural car parks nearby are free for the first hour, then ¥200 an hour for a car"
last_verified: "2026-08-14"
---

# Kagoshima City Aquarium (Io World)

The aquarium holds 800 species and 10,000 animals from Kinko Bay out to the Nansei Islands, whale shark included. The Kuroshio tank is on the second floor, deep-sea Kagoshima on the third, sawfish and squid on the fourth. The first floor gathers the children's areas, along with the seal tank, the pirarucu tank and the dolphin pool. Sign language and subtitles are built into the screen commentary at Dolphin Time. The fifth-floor hall is for sitting down with an ice cream, shirokuma included.

- Area: kagoshima
- Type: sightseeing
- Average stay: 90 min
- Hours: 9:30-18:00, last admission 17:00. Closed for four days from the first Monday in December for maintenance; open as usual over New Year. During Golden Week, weekends in the summer holidays and Obon it stays open until 21:00 as the 'Night Aquarium'
- Last verified: 2026-08-14

## Family facts (value + conditions + source + verified date)

| Feature | Value | Conditions | Verified | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stroller friendly | Yes | Pushchairs are lent free — 13 of them, two types, no booking; ask staff as soon as you are in. They are for children of 2 and under (from 3 a wheelchair is lent instead) and may not leave the building. Wide cubicles that take a pushchair are in the men's and women's toilets as well as the multi-purpose ones. Twenty wheelchairs are also lent free | 2026-08-14 (web) | [source](https://ioworld.jp/faq/) |
| Stroller rental | Yes (13) | Free, 13 available, for children of 2 and under; no booking, ask staff on arrival | 2026-08-14 (web) | [source](https://ioworld.jp/faq/) |
| Nursing space | Yes (2) | Two private nursing rooms near the group entrance on the 1st floor of the main building, open to fathers too. They have a baby bed, a nursing chair, hot water for formula (about 70C), a sink, a microwave, an air purifier, a bin that also takes nappies, and a baby scale. Hot water for formula is also kept at the 1st-floor information desk and the 2nd-floor restaurant | 2026-08-14 (web) | [source](https://ioworld.jp/faq/) |
| Diaper changing table | Yes | A fold-down baby seat in every men's and women's toilet on floors 1 to 4 of the main building and in the Dolphin Hall women's toilet, plus a changing board in the women's toilets on floors 2 to 4 | 2026-08-14 (web) | [source](https://ioworld.jp/facilities/) |
| Diaper disposal bin | Yes | The nursing rooms have a bin that also takes used nappies | 2026-08-14 (web) | [source](https://ioworld.jp/facilities/) |
| Family restroom | Yes (4) | Multi-purpose toilets on floors 1 to 4 of the main building; the 1st-floor one has ostomate facilities. A baby keeper seat is fitted in the women's toilet on the 1st floor and in both men's and women's on floors 2 to 4, and washlet seats are standard. The Dolphin Hall and the outdoor toilets have no multi-purpose cubicle | 2026-08-14 (web) | [source](https://ioworld.jp/facilities/) |
| Kids' toilet seat & step stool | Yes | Child-height urinals throughout: three to six in each men's toilet on floors 1 to 4 of the main building, one in each women's toilet, and more in the Dolphin Hall and outdoor toilets | 2026-08-14 (web) | [source](https://ioworld.jp/facilities/) |
| Outside food allowed | Yes | Eat your own food at the outdoor lawn or the indoor dolphin stand — but not at the stand during 'Dolphin Time' and other events, and not in the 5th-floor observation hall, which is for drinks and ice cream from the machines. Eating outside the designated places is against the aquarium's rules. The 2nd-floor restaurant opens 11:00-16:00 on weekdays and 11:00-17:00 at weekends and on holidays | 2026-08-14 (web) | [source](https://ioworld.jp/faq/) |
| Stroller access notes | Yes | Two disabled parking bays on site by the group entrance; when full, a guard directs you to another space on site. There is no aquarium car park otherwise — the three prefectural car parks nearby are free for the first hour, then ¥200 an hour. From Kagoshima-Chuo Station take the tram (line 2) to Suizokukan-guchi, then walk 8 minutes. Coin lockers at both entrances take a ¥100 coin and give it back; anything too big is minded free at the information desk | 2026-08-14 (web) | [source](https://ioworld.jp/facilities/) |
| Elevator | Not checked yet |  |  |  |
| English support | Not checked yet |  |  |  |
| Indoor / outdoor | Not checked yet |  |  |  |