The Ice Aquarium in the port city of Kessennuma in Miyagi prefecture looks like an interesting place to chill out. The frosty cold aquarium houses an arrangement of 40 large ice blocks containing 450 specimens (80 varieties) of local marine life -- including squid, crab, bonito and saury -- which are frozen in perpetual mid-swim.

The ambient lighting and sound inside the aquarium are designed to give visitors the sense that they are on the ocean floor, while the room temperature is kept at -20 degrees Celsius (-4 degrees Fahrenheit). Heavy coats are available at the aquarium entrance.

The Ice Aquarium, which also features a display of Antarctic ice retrieved by a Japanese research vessel in 2002, is part of Umi No Ichi, a facility at Kessennuma Harbor that includes a giant fresh seafood market, a shark restaurant and a shark museum.

[Photos: Miwako No Kan]