Tokyo Bay, of which there is not another example in the world, is a marine area that must be navigated while a great number of vessels crowd together. While, the expansion of facilities within the bay is proceeding further and it is predicted that the number of vessels navigating Tokyo Bay in the future will increase even more, it is necessary to immediately construct a safe and more efficient new maritime traffic system by such means as rethinking the Maritime Traffic Safety Law, which remains the same as when it was implemented 30 years earlier.

The news that Russia granted unauthorized permission to South Korea and Taiwan for saury fishing in Japan's exclusive economic waters dealt more than a slight shock to not only those related to the Japanese fishing industry, but to related parties from all sides as well. However, this saury incident is a problem not only about saury. It is partly thought to be a problem of the very way diplomatic relations have been conducted to this point, that has left various lingering issues concerning the waters surrounding Japan in an ambiguous state.

Ten years have passed since Mikurajima Island, with only one village with a population of 280 people, leapt to fame due to its dolphin watching. However, when I consider why, of all the numerous Izu islands, there are dolphins only at Mikurajima Island, I feel it is time to reconsider the state of dolphin watching, which to this point has been conducted only for humans' one-sided reasons, such as "Because we like them" and "Because we are healed by them".