Enoshima Aquarium, c. 1965. The caption reads: “The white hall of the aquarium, which rises on the Katase coast, is the largest aquarium in the East.”

From 1954 to 1964 the largest aquarium tank in the world was at ‘Marineland of the Pacific’, in California, containing 640,000 gallons. Then, in 1964 an aquatarium opened in Tampa, Florida, with a tank containing 1,244,000 gallons.

But, the biggest tank of all was at Enoshima Marineland in Japan. It opened ca. 1965 with a tank nearly the size of a football field – measuring 200 ft. long by 100 ft. wide and 28 ft. deep – a capacity of over 4,000,000 gallons! It was built mostly in-ground to prevent it from bowing in the center. Some time in the 1970s, the original tank was demolished and replaced with a newer amphitheater-style pool.

“The sight of the giant whales swimming is truly spectacular.” Marineland, Enoshima, c. 1960.

“Their taxi passed Kamakura and went along the Shichiri Beach. Keiko was silent.

“Both the sea and the sky were gray.

“Oki had the taxi stop at the Enoshima Marineland across from the island.

“He bought cuttlefish and mackerel to feed the dolphins. The dophins leaped from the water to take the bait from Keiko’s hand. She became more daring and held the bait higher and higher. The dolphins kept jumping higher after it. Keiko was as delighted as a child. She did not even notice that it was beginning to rain.”

– Beauty and Sadness, by Kawabata Yasunari, 2013