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This weekend, I visited the Kyoto Aquarium with my wife Minori for the first time in six years. Despite the happy atmosphere of all the sea creatures and friendly staff, it was somewhat of a bittersweet experience for me.
The Kyoto Aquarium was one of our first date spots, but around the time we went in 2020 coincided with me receiving the news of my father’s health getting progressively worse. I’ve discussed these sad events at length before, but long story short, Dad would pass away six months later of colon cancer.
Coming back made me feel more emotional than I thought it would because it reminded me of what was a very different time in my life. Namely, those first couple months Minori and I were together were some of our happiest memories. It was right before I had to deal with so much heavy and important stuff, as well as when I was completely sure I’d be pursuing an academic career.
In 2026, Dad is no longer with us and I’ve dropped out of my PhD program because it wasn’t working out for me. I’ll get into that whole ordeal of quitting academia another time, but I’m now trying to start my own import-export business with a good friend. Instead of having what I thought was a set path in life, there are now a lot of unknowns to navigate though ahead. It’s both an exciting and terrifying time, to put it lightly.
Despite all these uncertainties, Minori and I are now happily married. Our second wedding anniversary is this week, but it also marks six years since we’ve been together in total. She has truly been my anchor through thick and thin. I can’t even begin to express how grateful I am for her support because I wouldn’t have been able to go through everything that’s happened alone.
My own personal connections aside, the Kyoto Aquarium is indeed a wonderful place to spend an afternoon. It’s home to multiple specimens of the Japanese giant salamander, one of the city’s beloved historic symbols. I had a good laugh watching a sea lion that looked like it was posing for visitors as it had a stretch on dry land. The hall of jellyfish was newly renovated from the last time we were here. The penguins were expectedly adorable, and they were actually the source of an internationally viral post of mine back in 2020. We arrived too late to see the dolphin show, but I remember it being thoroughly entertaining the last time and that’s just another justification to come back.
The Kyoto Aquarium isn’t particularly large compared to other aquariums I’ve been to in Japan, but you get a nice selection of sea life to learn about. The layout is straightforward and the building itself is within short walkable distance from Kyoto Station. There were naturally far more people now compared to the pandemic era, but it didn’t feel overcrowded despite us being there on a Saturday. Passing through the various exhibits again felt comforting as I contemplated both past and future.
It’s also located in Umekoji Park, a beautiful spot with lots of colorful flowers in bloom at this time of year. Kyoto always bears the brunt of Japan’s brutal summers, but the weather in April is still just right. Minori and I had a nice afternoon together strolling through the area. Students from local schools practiced sports and hung out with friends, while the overall atmosphere felt surprisingly relaxing.
Kyoto has a reputation of being made worse by hordes of tourists who turn the city into what’s essentially an amusement park. While that’s sadly true in a few places and the post-COVID overtourism phenomenon can’t be ignored, you can still find good spots as a local. My wife and I enjoy taking long walks on Kyoto’s backroads, while parks like Umekoji have some great scenery. We’re past peak sakura season, but the flora we saw still made for some stunning photos. Later in the evening we walked over to one of my favorite restaurants for some excellent Vietnamese food.
Despite this only being my second visit, the Kyoto Aquarium and surrounding area will always mean a lot to me. The last time I was here coincided with one important turning point of my life, and I’m once again at a similar crossroads. Amid a day of charming animals and gorgeous flowers, I remembered more innocent salad days while I contemplated on what the future may hold.
As best as I could though, I also treasured the present because my personality has always made it difficult to just sit back and enjoy the moment. Depending on where I end up setting up my business, we may no longer be living in Kyoto this time next year. It will be sad if we have to leave, but we hope to stay in or relatively close to Kansai. In any case, the Kyoto Aquarium will always be a memorable place for us. I’m glad we could spend another day there again.
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Funnily enough, I think I met one of your colleagues from NK News at a conference/summit last year, someone with a PhD; and he was also thinking about going into something else like political risk, possibly. Hope all's going well with the business.
Excellent photography and a very beautiful looking place. Will have to drop by on my trip this fall, time and weather permitting.