--- description: In TIME's photo of the day, a manta ray is caught in the light of an aquarium in Japan. title: TIME's Photo of the Day: A Manta Ray Caught in the Light in Japan image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt93c5d5ca4f330a8e/6987a748cd6848547b09c9b3/00_8597885db9e540ba89183619e3b550cd-0.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [LightBox](/tag/time-section-lightbox/) ## LightBox Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # A Ray of Light by [TIME Photo Department](/author/time-photo-department/) ## TIME Photo Department Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Sep 18, 2013 5:46 PM CUT  A manta ray swims at the Black Current sea tank at Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium in Motobu, on the southern island of Okinawa, Japan. The main tank, called Kuroshio Sea, holds 7,500 cubic meters (1,981,000 US gallons) of water and features an acrylic glass panel with a thickness of 60 centimeters (24 inches), one of the largest such panels in the world. A manta ray swims at the Black Current sea tank at Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium in Motobu, on the southern island of Okinawa, Japan. The main tank, called Kuroshio Sea, holds 7,500 cubic meters (1,981,000 US gallons) of water and features an acrylic glass panel with a thickness of 60 centimeters (24 inches), one of the largest such panels in the world.Eugene Hoshiko—AP by [TIME Photo Department](/author/time-photo-department/) ## TIME Photo Department Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Sep 18, 2013 5:46 PM CUT  A manta ray swims at the Black Current sea tank at Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium in Motobu, on the southern island of Okinawa, Japan. The main tank, called Kuroshio Sea, holds 7,500 cubic meters (1,981,000 US gallons) of water and features an acrylic glass panel with a thickness of 60 centimeters (24 inches), one of the largest such panels in the world. Eugene Hoshiko—AP ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3802455/ray-of-light/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3802455/ray-of-light/"},"headline":"A Ray of Light","datePublished":"2013-09-18T17:46:36.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:40:41.323Z","description":"In TIME's photo of the day, a manta ray is caught in the light of an aquarium in Japan.","url":"https://time.com/3802455/ray-of-light/","keywords":["LightBox","Japan","Photo of the Day"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt93c5d5ca4f330a8e/6987a748cd6848547b09c9b3/00_8597885db9e540ba89183619e3b550cd-0.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Photo Department","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-photo-department/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt93c5d5ca4f330a8e/6987a748cd6848547b09c9b3/00_8597885db9e540ba89183619e3b550cd-0.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"APTOPIX Japan Aquarium","caption":"APTOPIX Japan Aquarium","creditText":"Eugene Hoshiko—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-lightbox/","name":"LightBox"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3802455/ray-of-light/","name":"A Ray of Light"}}]}] ```