Looking for Sloths in Osaka

The nearby city of Osaka is a sort of antithesis to Kyoto. It's a big, modern and fairly soulless place where we went hoping to see sloths. The sloths apparently lived in an aquarium on the waterfront. Sadly they were either feeling shy or off display, but we were amazed by the rest of the massive, multi-level aquarium. You enter slightly above street level and descend in a spiral around a series of enormous multi-story tanks. The display is divided into various geographical zones, and we were intriged to find ourselves passing through the 'Cook Strait Zone' at one stage (sadly, it had nothing on 'Jellyfish Land'). The prize for most unlikely cuteness goes to the aquarium's resident whale shark, apparently the world's largest fish species. Unexpectedly for a shark, it's a filter feeder, and was constantly on the move and vacuuming the water with its huge, toothless mouth. It is, without question, the least terrifying shark imaginable. My attempts at whale shark photography were foiled by low light levels but it was well-represented in the aquarium's gift shop, where I picked up a microfibre cloth bearings its likeness. Also present in the aquarium (and gift shop) were capybaras - who knew THEY were semi-aquatic?

Failed attempt at whale-shark photography.