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Japan’s Loneliest Sunfish Is Pining for Visitors at the Shimonoseki Aquarium

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At the Shimonoseki Aquarium, things are getting a little goofy as staff work hard to fulfill the emotional needs of one needy sunfish.

Imagine living a busy life, excited to meet new people every day, when suddenly all your friends disappear, leaving you all alone with nowhere to go. You’d be feeling a little melancholy too, if you went through the same experience as the unnamed (and mysteriously gendered) ocean sunfish who has been living (mostly happily) at the Shimonoseki Aquarium Kaikyokan in Yamaguchi (also known as the Shimonoseki Marine Science Museum or Shimonoseki City Aquarium) since February of 2024. For the first year or so of its aquarium life, the sunfish grew and put on weight, cheerfully munching jellyfish (or more accurately, allowing them to flow down its gullet) and enjoying the warm sunlight. But, according to a report from the Mainichi Shimbun, things changed when the aquarium closed for renovations.

Since renovations began on December 1st, 2024, Shimonoseki’s beloved sunfish has become listless. Not only has the poor fish lost its appetite, turning its back on tempting jellyfish, but it has shown other signs of ill health too, like a new habit of rubbing up against the sides of the acrylic tank it calls home. At first, staff worried that the sunfish’s poor health might be the result of parasites or other digestion issues, but nothing seemed to help the fish until one keeper suggested the unexpected – “Could it be feeling lonely?”

While we don’t usually imagine fish as being particularly sensitive creatures, particularly ones that look as prehistoric as the sunfish, in the end it the environmental changes seem to be the most likely culprit when it comes to the poor marine creature’s health. In the span of just a day, crowds of people disappeared from the aquarium, only to be replaced by vibrations and loud noises from the surrounding construction. While the renovations couldn’t be put on hold for one sad sunfish, the staff immediately set to work, searching for ways to cheer the fish up – and get it eating again.

Image Source: Mainichi Shimbun

A week after the aquarium closed and the sunfish’s health began to decline, staff finally hit upon a winning treatment. They taped photos of human faces onto the tank, displaying staff uniforms just on the other side of the clear acrylic walls, and created the image of a crowd of excited onlookers. They couldn’t do much about the sound, but staff recreated the look of a busy aquarium full of excited visitors, and it worked. From the next day onward, Shimonoseki’s saddest sunfish began to eat, and to gradually recover. It turns out that this sunfish has always been a social butterfly, beloved by aquarium goers, and interested in humans as well. When Shimonoseki Aquarium tweeted about the sunfish’s return to health, the post was retweeted more than 12 million times. And those close to the sunfish, like keeper Mai Kato are well aware of its curious social nature, relating tales of how “when aquarium visitors come up close to its tank, the sunfish would float over to meet them.”

Kato added that she hopes “many people will take an interest in the ocean sunfish and come visit when the construction is finished, to wave hello in front of its tank.”

Shimonoseki Aquarium Kaikyokan is set to reopen summer 2025. Add it to the itinerary for your summer trip to Japan, and make sure you wave hello to the loneliest – or friendliest – sunfish in all of Japan.

For more info and updates from Japan, check Japankuru for new articles, and don’t forget to follow us on X (Twitter), Instagram, and Facebook!

Sophia Appelbaum

Sophia Appelbaum

Half a lifetime ago I came to Japan for a semester abroad... and I never left. I guess I really like the place! I spent my first few years in Japan living in the middle of nowhere, so I'd love to hear your Tokyo recommendations via Japan's social media accounts!

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