While the Japanese fishing industry still plays a role in food security and in security in general through border monitoring and rescue at sea, its progressive weakening has meant a drop in these capabilities. At the same time, the issues of maintaining overseas fisheries and safe fishing operations cannot be addressed by their efforts alone. In future, we must aim for maritime security that includes sectors other than the fishing industry.

In March of 2012, the inner reaches of Kagoshima Bay were newly designated as the Kirishima-Kinkowan National Park. Although at present many national parks tend to give priority to their sightseeing resources, involvement of many people in the development of a new vision for national parks is necessary, in which thought is given how best to balance use with protection of ocean waters and their surrounding areas.

In Ishikari Bay, in Hokkaido, a mirage can be seen, known as the Ghost of Takashima. The mirage, a mysterious phenomenon in which the scenery on the other side of the bay appears altered, occurs from spring to early summer when the surface temperature of the water is lower than that over land. Light is refracted at the boundary where the warmer air from over land flows over the cooler air over water, thus bringing about the atmospheric optical phenomenon.