• New employees celebrate joining in unconventional underwater ceremony
• Employment letters handed out inside tank amid applause

New staff took part in a unique underwater event inside a large Japanese tank filled with fish and turtles.

The ceremony marked the appointment of five new employees at Toba Aquarium on the eve of the new fiscal year.

Dressed in formal suits, the employees lined up side by side underwater, each wearing scuba fins with stickers similar to those used for beginner drivers.

Aquarium head Wakai Yoshihito delivered a welcome message from outside the tank, urging the staff to work diligently with gratitude.

A senior supervisor handed the employment letters to the new hires inside the tank.

New employee Tabata Mai spoke via an underwater microphone, expressing her hope to become fully qualified so she can introduce visitors to the animals.

The ceremony received warm applause, and Tabata’s mother was present, deeply moved that her daughter’s dream had come true.