In order for Japan to complete its recovery from the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami, it must take the lead in the international ocean community in actively implementing a new and comprehensive management of its EEZ and continental shelf, famous worldwide for their bountiful resources. While the road to implementation of the legal measures necessary for integrated management of the ocean will not be an easy one, now is the time for the whole country to combine its efforts to achieve this first new step in securing the future of the Maritime State of Japan.

This article provides an overview of the Ocean Science Café, held twice a year since 2008 for the purpose of "finding ways to allow people to develop a closer relationship with the ocean through mutual discussions between members of the Oceanographic Society of Japan and a wide range of participants, from high school students to adults, on the latest results of ocean science research." It is my hope that the Ocean Science Café will also improve the ability of ocean researchers to carry out their activities as they think about what and how best to communicate to the public.

In the latter half of the 1920s, Hitoshi Ashida, a diplomat posted to Istanbul and later Prime Minister of Japan, wrote his "History of the Navigation Regime in the Istanbul Straits," expressing his hopes for the future of ocean diplomacy. In the work, he reviewed the historical development of ocean diplomacy in relation to Turkey as seen through the formation of the Straits regime. As Japan considers new directions for its ocean diplomacy, there is much to be learned from Ashida's perspective.