AOAO Sapporo is one of the best indoor places to visit in Sapporo, and we stopped by with our baby during our city itinerary.
If you’re planning a Sapporo trip and want an easy downtown stop, this is a great pick—especially on a rainy day or when you need a break from the heat or cold. AOAO Sapporo Aquariumreally is worth a visit!
It’s not a huge, flashy aquarium with giant tanks or dolphin shows. Since it’s an urban aquarium in the middle of the city, the scale is smaller—but it’s packed with unusual, fascinating creatures you don’t easily see elsewhere, so both kids and adults will have fun exploring.
We visited with our 15-month-old, and it was very stroller-friendly. Since it’s right in central Sapporo, Japan, it didn’t eat up our travel time, which made it easy to add to a downtown sightseeing route.
Another big plus: the hours are long, from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., so it’s easy to fit in whenever you want.
How to Get to AOAO Sapporo
AOAO Sapporo Aquarium is directly connected to Tanukikoji Shopping Street, one of the main shopping areas in central Sapporo, so it’s very easy to reach.
AOAO Sapporo occupies floors 4 through 6 of the moyuk SAPPORO mall. We had a stroller with us and had no trouble getting around.
Even though the aquarium spans the 4th to 6th floors, admission starts on the 4th floor.
Discount Ticket Booking
You can buy tickets at the on-site ticket counter, but it’s much cheaper to book online in advance.
The regular adult ticket price is ¥2,200. On Trip.com, it was 17,981 KRW when I wrote this, which worked out to a savings of about 2,200 KRW based on an exchange rate of 917 KRW.
Trip.com lists children’s tickets at 8,991 KRW and infant tickets at 1,635 KRW. If you’re visiting as a family or group, the savings add up even more.
AOAO Sapporo Lowest Price Tickets
Klook and MyRealTrip also sell tickets, but the prices were over 20,000 KRW. At that point, there’s basically no difference from buying on-site, so I don’t think there’s much reason to book there.
When you book AOAO Sapporo tickets on Trip.com, you receive a QR code on your phone that lets you enter right away,so there’s no need to exchange it for a physical ticket. It saves time and makes the whole process really easy. I also liked that you can visit anytime on the selected date without a time slot, and same-day booking is available too.
A Sapporo Aquarium Full of Unusual Creatures
Right after you enter, you can actually see part of the aquarium’s water filtration and management system. That’s not something you usually see at a typical aquarium, so it made the visit interesting from the very beginning.
Since the aquarium is built inside a mall, the atmosphere feels unique—somewhere between a museum, an exhibition hall, and an aquarium.
A lot of the animals look a little strange, even slightly eerie, so if you’re squeamish, this might not be your favorite part. But for regular curious people like me, it was genuinely fascinating.
You can tell they put a lot of care into tank and water management because every tank was incredibly clean. The displays also felt stylish and artistic—almost like a futuristic museum.
Floors 4 and 5 have lots of smaller tanks. The aquarium isn’t massive, but there’s a surprisingly wide variety of species, and once you start peeking into each one, time goes by faster than you’d expect.
This is such a fun Sapporo spot for both kids and grown-ups.
There are also scheduled presentations or mini shows at certain times, so if you’re a serious aquarium fan, it might be worth timing your visit around those.
There were fossil models too,
plus a hands-on interactive zone,
and even a small ancient-creatures exhibit that we checked out briefly.
On the 6th floor, there’s also a media art zone. The moving underwater-style visuals keep changing, and I heard a whale video plays around 15 minutes past every hour. If you have time, that would be a great moment to head up to the 6th floor for photos.
The Penguin Zone Everyone Loves
The whole aquarium was fun, but the most popular area at AOAO Sapporo is definitely the Penguin Zone.
The penguin tank is on the opposite side of the 6th-floor media art wall. The penguins here are small, so the exhibit itself feels cozy and compact.
You can watch the penguins swim right up close through the glass, which kept our baby entertained and was so much fun for me too. They’re surprisingly playful and seem to enjoy coming close to people.
We got to watch them dive and even see their faces up close. If your child loves observing animals, I think they would absolutely love this part.
Oh, and if you walk around to the back of the tank, there’s even a backstage-style viewing area open to visitors. You can also see the penguins resting out of the water.
Their waddling walk, colorful beaks, and bright little feet are unbelievably cute—don’t skip the backstage area.
Around the Penguin Zone, there’s also a plankton area where you can see jellyfish and other delicate sea life. It has that dreamy, mesmerizing feel where you just want to stand there and zone out watching the water. In reality, though, we had a baby with us, so we had to move through pretty quickly.
There’s also a café on the 6th floor next to the media art area. I heard you can buy coffee and bread there and eat anywhere inside the aquarium on floors 4 through 6. If you think you might get hungry, it could be smart to stop there first and grab a snack before you start exploring.
Final Thoughts
AOAO Sapporo felt like stepping into a completely different world right in the middle of busy downtown Sapporo. If you’re looking for a quick, worthwhile stop during a Susukino or Sapporo Station itinerary, this is one of the best options.
I’d especially recommend it if the weather is bad, if you’re traveling with kids, or if you want a relaxing indoor stop between shopping plans.
There’s also a gift shop near the exit, so make sure to take a look before you leave. And if you’re planning to visit, I’d recommend booking through the official partner Trip.com for the lowest ticket price.