Responses to the disaster from the Japan Coast Guard included dispatching patrol boats and planes from all over the country, by which it rescued 360 people from disaster-stricken areas, carrying out monitoring activities and staying on the alert in waters near the Fukushima nuclear site. It also helped restore damaged ports, ensured safety at sea through restoration of navigational aids and issuing of navigation warnings, and transported emergency supplies. Along with continuing to make all efforts to respond to the disaster, it plans to repair any damage incurred to its patrol boats and air strength as soon as possible, so as to be able to respond effectively to increasingly tense international situations such as the Senkaku Islands.

On March 11, 2011, at the time of the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami, the coastal shipping industry made good use of its maritime transport capabilities to aid in the relief efforts. In the early stage of the disaster, damage to wharves, floating debris, and other difficulties made almost all ports on the Pacific coast unusable, but we were able to get needed fuel, animal feed, emergency supplies, and vehicles to the stricken areas. In the future, the coastal shipping industry intends to support the economic activities of the maritime state of Japan and the lives of its people as well as be ready to play a major role in emergency transport should disaster strike again.

In topographically enclosed bays and inlets where sea water exchange is small, hypoxia can develop rapidly in summer when the supply of oxygen from upper to lower layers is limited and oxygen is being consumed in the decomposition of organic material accumulated on the bottom. In a four-year project from 2010, Omura Bay, located in the center of Nagasaki prefecture, is being used as a model in trials for environmental restoration. The long-term goal of the environmental restoration is creation of a "sato-umi."