Recovering from the Noto Peninsula Earthquake! The sardine tank is also newly illuminated!

Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to speak with us today.
It is a great pleasure to see you again, Mr.Takeuchi.
Thank you very much for using Stanley’s LED projection lighting LEDSFOCUS PRO for the sardine tank in addition to your whale shark tank.

Mr. Takeuchi
Thank you for visiting us again.

First of all, we would like to express our deepest sympathies for the earthquake that struck the Noto region,including the aquarium.
It has been one year since the earthquake struck, and we understand that you have been through many hardships.

竹内様
Thank you very much.
I had planned to retire this spring, but I have extended my employment in order to take the lead in restoring the aquarium.
However, the work is by and large complete, and so I’ll be retiring at the end of 2024.

Thank you for all your hard work. We’d like to talk a little about the restoration work, and later on, we would like to hear about you since we were unable to last time.
First, we would like to ask about your LED projection lighting.
Once again, you chose to use Stanley’s LED projection lighting. Can I ask what led you to this decision?

Mr. Takeuchi
Yes, the whale shark tank is definitely where your lighting has been most effective.
Stanley’s narrow-angle LED projection lighting looks like sunlight, and was the perfect lighting to illuminate our theme of “Blue World.”
We thought that if we could use this same lighting for our sardine tank, we would be able to beautifully reproduce the light reflecting off the sardines.

We look forward to seeing how this differs from the whale shark “Blue World” later.

Mr. Takeuchi
The earthquake delayed the introduction of new sardines, but we managed to get them in while I was there.
The sardine tank has both top light and natural light, and so the LED projection lighting is mainly effective after dusk,but it is very effective in the “Night Aquarium” we hold insummer, and allows us to show the beauty of the sardines even if the top light is blocked.

So you use the medium-angle type for natural light, and the narrow-angle type for directed lighting.

Mr. Takeuchi
Yes, the color temperature was also set to 6500 K, which is close to that of sunlight.

The production is different from that of the whale sharks,but I felt that our experience with the sharks helped us to get better use of the lighting.
Can you now tell us a little about yourself? May we ask about your work history to date, Mr. Takeuchi?

Mr. Takeuchi
I was hired by the Ishikawa Prefectural Government in the building framework, and have worked there for 38 years.
I worked in housing policy, urban planning, and building administration, and then started working here in 2019.

That must be why you are a first-class architect and a certified engineer in urban and regional planning.
What kind of work have you done so far that has given you a sense of accomplishment?

Mr. Takeuchi
I believe we have demonstrated our capabilities in promoting barrier-free access, revising the landscape ordinance, and urban planning.
Although I was deputy director of the Public Works Department when I left my job in prefectural government, I experienced many hardships when I was section manager(laughs).
And here at the “Ishikawa Prefectural Citizens' Fureai Public
Corporation,” although I was about to retire, I decided to extend my employment to work on the restoration of the aquarium.

We are very much looking forward to seeing the aquarium work you spearheaded after this.

Mr. Takeuchi
I assume you’ll be driving to the aquarium. Please drive carefully as the roads are still damaged in many places due to the earthquake as you exit the Noto Satoyama Kaido.

Thank you very much.
Thank you again for sharing your valuable story with us. We wish you many more years of success in the future.

After leaving the “Ishikawa Prefectural Citizens' Fureai
Public Corporation,” we headed to the Notojima Seaside Park Aquarium.

We met with Mr. Yabune, the longest-serving aquarium head keeper at the Notojima Seaside Park Aquarium with 31 years of service, who was introduced to us by Mr. Takeuchi.

Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to speak with us today.

Mr. Yabune
Thank you for visiting.

－First of all, when did the aquarium reopen?

Mr. Yabune
We reopened on July 20, 2024.

－You must have been working very hard on the restoration work to get the aquarium up and running again so quickly.
Mr. Takeuchi also told us that the aquarium was hurriedly reopened as a symbol of reconstruction.

Mr. Yabune
We’ve still got a long way to go until the restoration work is complete, but we’re working diligently to meet that goal.
As you can see, there are still traces of the earthquake here
and there, but our first priority that day was to ensure the safety of, and evacuate our customers.
By around 5:00 pm, an hour after the quake, we had managed to evacuate everyone safely, but by then, it had become clear that the aquarium's facilities had been severely damaged.



－We heard that the whale shark tank where you had been using our LED projection lighting was also damaged, and as a result, two whale sharks died.

Mr. Yabune
The tank was okay, but the plumbing was hit, and the pump was submerged.
We rushed to get another pump ready, but were too late. We were unable to heat the water with the boiler, water purification was not available, and the water level had dropped to about half of its original level.
If the earthquake had not struck in winter, the two whale sharks might not have died.

－That is a very sad and unfortunate outcome.

Mr. Yabune
Yes, many other sea creatures died or were evacuated to other aquariums.
However, in October, a whale shark (nicknamed Momo,about 4.4 meters long) that was caught in a fixed net in ShigaTown in Ishikawa Prefecture, joined the aquarium and is swimming happily, and so we hope that many visitors will come back again to see him.

We are very happy that the “Blue World” has been restored with projection lighting shining once again on your whale shark tank.
Thank you very much for using Stanley’s LED projection lighting LEDSFOCUS PRO for your sardine tank also.

Mr. Yabune
We believe that you’ll be able to see shimmering big waves and dynamic sardine balls in different lights produced by the narrow-angle and medium-angle type lighting.

The different types of light emitted have produced a beautiful contrast in the tank.

Incidentally, what kind of sardines do you keep here?/i>

Mr. Yabune
They are called maiwashi (Japanese pilchard), and are about 12 cm long.
We have around 10,000 maiwashi in our exhibit, but the
volume is still too low, so we plan to add more in March.
In addition to the whale sharks, it is very impressive to see the sardines swimming in their shiny new tank.
We know you are still only halfway through your reconstruction, but we wish you continued success with your endeavors. Thank you very much for speaking with us today.

Visitors’ comments

“I bought an annual pass to come with my kids to the aquarium. We feel energized when we see the fish swimming in their tanks.
We also received an extension to our annual pass beyond the expiration date. We look forward to continuing to support and be inspired by the aquarium.”

“I learned that there is a great deal of ingenuity goes into the presentation work in the aquarium.
Good luck with your reconstruction.”