In an earlier edition of this Newsletter, under the title Promoting Hakodate through its Fisheries and Oceans (No. 244, Oct. 5, 2010), I discussed how the city of Hakodate was revitalizing itself using the ocean as theme for a variety of initiatives. In this article, I would like to introduce what was a main goal of our promotion efforts, the Research Center, which was completed and opened to the public in June of 2014. The article gives an overview of the Center, describes its mission, and outlines its future activities.