Hakkeijima Sea Paradise is an amusement park, theme park, and impressive aquarium all located on a man-made island in Tokyo Bay. Anyone can walk onto the island free, then each attraction is paid for separately. The seaside amusement park is called Pleasure Land and features the twirling, twisting Surf Coaster ride. Each ride has to be paid for separately. The Aqua Museum has an enormous aquarium containing 70,000 fish. The special attraction is the "aqua escalator," which allows visitors to travel through the middle of the aquarium, from the surface to the depths of the underwater world.
The permanent collection consists of about 4,000 works, some of which have been designated important cultural assets. The museum has an Edo-era collection of gold inlaid screen paintings plus excellent examples of lacquer and armor. The Fuji also sponsors joint exhibitions from overseas. For example, exhibits such as 'Western Painting from Renaissance to Impressionism' and 'Chinese Ceramics in Famille-rose from the Wan-li Period' are typical. Set in a contemporary building with a garden that includes sculptures, facilities also include a museum shop and a restaurant.
Originally opened in 1971, the museum was reorganized in 1983 to focus on history. The exhibit areas cover periods from earliest Japan, through the Edo period to modern times. The displays are well represented with wood block prints, haniwa figures, suits of armor, screens and replicas of farms and warriors' residences.