品川プリンスのビュッフェ「リュクス・ダイニング・ハプナ」の食事券をいただいたので、家族で行ってみようと16日(日)の夜の予約を入れた。せっかく品川まで行くので、日中どこかぶらついてみようかという話だったのだが、当日はあいにくの雨。 We received a meal voucher for the buffet LUXE Dining Hapuna at Shinagawa Prince Hotel, so I made a dinner reservation for my family on Sunday the 16th. Since we were already going all the way to Shinagawa, we had talked about wandering around during the day, but unfortunately, it rained that day.
ネットで検索して、同じ品川プリンスの敷地内にある、表題の都市型アクエリアムで時間をつぶすことにした。 After searching online, we decided to pass the time at the urban aquarium on the Shinagawa Prince Hotel grounds, the one mentioned in the title.
桜をフィーチャーした展示。 An exhibition featuring cherry blossoms.
若干行った時間が悪かった。16時からドルフィンパフォーマンスが始まるというのに、私たちが着いたのは、15時50分頃。とりあえず、他の展示は後回しにした。 Our timing was a bit off. The dolphin performance was scheduled to start at 4:00 PM, but we arrived around 3:50 PM. For the time being, we decided to put the other exhibits on hold.
Whenever I watch a dolphin show, I can’t help but wonder how they train the dolphins to perform these tricks. On this day, we unfortunately had to stand at the back, but sitting in the front row would have been quite a thrilling experience—though you probably would have gotten wet.
By the way, On November 18, 2021, a new animal welfare bill was reportedly passed in Japan, which included bans on dolphin shows, the use of wild animals in circuses, and the sale of dogs and cats in pet shops. According to this, wild animals would be prohibited on TV variety shows in two years, and dolphin shows would be banned in five years.
However, this turned out to be incorrect. COPLIT apparently picked up a news report from South Korea by mistake, and it seems that Japan hasn’t implemented such measures yet. Still, it’s true that the global trend is moving in this direction. (Reading related articles gave me a lot to think about.)
注意しなければならないのは、ドルフィンパフォーマンスの終了後、出口までは進むのも困難なほどの激コミ状態になることだ。端折ってしまった展示をあらためて見ようにも、戻ることができず、結局人の波に飲まれながら、いったん出口を出て、再入場する羽目になった。 One thing to be careful of is that after the dolphin performance ends, the crowd becomes so dense that it’s nearly impossible to move toward the exit. Even if you want to go back and see the exhibits you skipped, you can’t make your way through. In the end, we were swept along with the crowd, had to exit once, and then re-enter to continue exploring.
再入場したら、他の展示は空いていたので、結果オーライだった。 Once we re-entered, the other exhibits were much less crowded, so it all worked out in the end.
他にもタツノオトシゴがいたり、写真にはないが、カピバラやペンギンがいたり、 There were also seahorses, and although they don’t appear in my photos, there were capybaras and penguins as well.
回遊魚のトンネルがあったりと、なかなか楽しめる。 There’s also a tunnel with schooling fish, which makes for quite an enjoyable experience.
要注意と言えば、そのあと訪れた豪華ビュッフェ「リュクス・ダイニング・ハプナ」。休日のこの日は17時半からと20時からの2時間制で、私たちは17時半にしたのだが、入場直後はとにかくどの料理も長蛇の列になる。しかもその列がどこから始まっているのか判りずらく、非常にストレスがたまる。このオペレーションにはかなり問題があると思う。 Speaking of things to watch out for, the luxurious buffet LUXE Dining Hapuna, which we visited afterward, operates on two-hour slots on weekends—5:30 PM and 8:00 PM. We chose the 5:30 PM slot, and right after entering, every dish had long lines. What’s worse, it’s hard to tell where the line actually begins, which makes it very stressful. I think there’s quite a problem with how this operation is managed.
ところが30分もしたら、どのコーナーもガラガラになったので、混むのは入場直後だけだといことを後になって理解した。次回来ることがあれば、最初の30分ぐらいはウエルカムドリンクでも飲みながらのんびりと過ごし、空いてきたところで料理を選ぶようにしようと思う。ちなみに休日の夜はひとり8000円だが、平日なら6000円のプランもあり、悪くないCPだと思う。 After half an hour, all the lines had disappeared, so it seems the rush is only right at the start. Next time, I’ll just relax with a welcome drink at first and then grab food once it’s less crowded. Weekend nights cost 8,000 yen per person, but weekdays are 6,000 yen, which isn’t bad at all.