Japan faces a historical national crisis in the oceans.To fix that, the formulation of a systematic national ocean policy, the improvement of the governmental structure, and the implementation of a basic program on the oceans which will extend over a short, medium, long period of time are essential.That foundation is the formulation of the Basic Law on the Oceans.

The third Basic Plan for Science and Technology Policy started in April 2006. The ship & ocean is positioning itself as an area to be promoted with the emphasis on research and development issues. These issues are important to be addressed as the base of the nation.This article presents a brief overview and describes the challenges of Japan to the science and technology of the ship & ocean.

Japan is saddled with a mountain of problems related to the ocean and coast. However, because these problems are often interrelated, it's necessary for the departments and agencies concerned to closely coordinate and comprehensively implement measures.The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport which hold jurisdiction over many government sectors on the ocean and coast looked into approaches to ocean and coastal policies and put together the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's Ocean and Coastal Policy Outline.