Oceans play an important role in the preservation of the environment,
mainly through ocean current circulation. Also, oceans guarantee the existence
of living things. Japan is situated in a unique region, surrounded on one side
by the Pacific Ocean, the open sea, and on the other by the Japan Sea, which
has inland-sea characteristics. Thus, Japan is in close relation to the ocean.
Many universities in Japan conduct observational research in
various fields of ocean science, such as physical oceanography, ocean floor geotectonics,
marine ecosystems, and so forth, by the use of research vessels, such as "The
Hakuho-Maru" (approx. 4,000 ton) of the Ocean Research Institute of the University
of Tokyo, which is equipped with new and powerful instruments for research and
observation, including a living resources echo exploration system. Universities
are also actively contributing to international cooperation in ocean science,
participating for example in the Ocean Drilling Program (ODP), an international
cooperative program aimed at elucidating the crustal structure and the formation
of ocean floors. Under ODP, ocean drilling was carried out in 1990 at the Nankai
Trough and the Izu Sea, both near Japan, and in 1991, the research on crustal
structure is to be carried out in the East Pacific Area.
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Promotion of Scientific Research