Be the Country that Leads the World in the Field of the International Order of the Sea!

The building of an international ocean order has been progressing globally but Japan has been failing to keep up. It is hoped that Japan will play an active role in the formation and development of the Iaw of the sea. To that end, first it is necessary to formulate a general and comprehensive national policy in Japan. The reason that there is in Japan a broad array of extremely complex interests in the ocean compared to other states is no longer an excuse.

Introduction

The Ocean Governance Working Group (Nippon Foundation) made public the "Proposal for Japan's Ocean Policy in the 21st Century." This proposal was compiled by organizing the results of research conducted in the past and the results of the questionnaire survey of Japan's ocean policy conducted at the end of last year. Taking this opportunity, I as the chairman of the Society would like to express my sincere appreciation for the support of the members of the Society in preparing the proposal and for the cooperation of the people concerned in providing us with the answers to the questionnaire. The proposal shows a basic direction that Japan should follow in building and implementing its ocean policy. I hope that the proposal is used as a starting point for the discussion about Japan's ocean policy. I also hope that people involved in formulating and implementing Japan's ocean policy will give serious consideration to the proposal.

Trends in the international order of the sea in the international society

Japan has pursued the principle of ocean freedom since the Meiji era, following the nations that led the world in the field of ocean policy. This approach to ocean policy was based on the international political structure supported by advanced nations that advocated the principle of ocean freedom.
The general law and order in the international society stood on the international relations in which such powerful nations predominated. As developing countries appeared on the international stage of politics after the 2nd World War and international society underwent a rapid, drastic change, Japan continued to ask for more benefits from the freedom of ocean activities, particularly the freedom of fishing activities, while other nations were changing the direction of their ocean policies. In a series of changes in the international order of the sea taking place with the 1st United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea in 1958, the 2nd in 1960, and the 3rd during the period from 1973 to 1982, Japan was insensitive in many respects to the trends in the international order of the sea in international society. It is thought that the persistence on the subject of ocean freedom would have made Japan choose an inappropriate approach to the international order of the sea.
There can be no excuse for the contention that searelated interests are more diverse and complicated in Japan than in other nations. All nations in the world are now being involved in sea-related interests in their own ways. Because many spheres of activity of national life are closely concerned with various sea-related problems in Japan, it is very important to formulate a comprehensive national policy and to deal with sea-related problems based on the policy. People's consciousness of the order of the sea must be confirmed in this 21st century, harmful results of bureaucratic sectionalism must be remedied, and the framework for formulating and implementing the ocean policy must be reconsidered fundamentally. Otherwise, Japan will be left behind the general trend in the international order of the sea and be unable to make an active contribution to the international cooperation concerning the use of the sea. The report made public by the Society for the Study of Ocean Management is in part based on the sense of emergency that we have about Japan's stance toward the ocean policy. I would like to elaborate on this from the standpoint of formation and development of the international order of the sea.

Japan should play an active part in establishing and developing the international order of the sea.

The control of the international order of the sea was based on international unwritten laws and the four Geneva Conventions on the Law of the Sea: the Conventions on the Territorial Waters, the Open Sea, Continental Shelf and Conservation of Fish, Wildlife and Mineral Resources in the Open Sea. (Japan is a non-contracting nation with regard to the last two conventions: the Geneva Convention on the Continental Shelf and the Conservation of Fish, Wildlife and Mineral Resources in the Open Sea.) The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and other new international sea laws is a corpus juries compiled by integrating all these unwritten sea laws and the Geneva Conventions.
The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea covers a wide range of matters concerning the international order of the sea: territorial water, international channels, archipelagic nations, exclusive economic zones, continental shelves, the open sea, closed sea, landlocked nations, deep sea floors, protection of the marine environment, oceanographic surveys, transfer of marine engineering techniques, resolution of marine disputes, and so forth. This United Nations Convention provides only a basic framework of the control of the sea order. There are many treaties and agreements concluded based on the convention to make the control of the sea order fully functional. All contracting nations of the United Nations Convention of the Law of the Sea are now responsible for keeping the international order of the sea by observing the principles and rules prescribed in the convention.
There are some problems, however, that remain unsolved under the convention, while there are new problems emerging under the convention: the conservation of fish species migrating across exclusive economic zones, the conflict concerning the use of an international channel between a coastal nation and a nation entering the international channel to catch fish, etc. Because the 3rd United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea adopted the convention using a consensus building method, some rules are ambiguous, insufficient or become clear only in the implementation stage after nations concerned to reach agreement.
How will the contracting nations overcome the shortfalls and limitations of the new convention? We must keep watch over how each nation deals with specific problems. This means that whether the convention functions effectively or not depends on how each nation interprets and applies the rules specified in the convention. Concerning the 200 nautical miles exclusive economic zone (EEZ) that was newly ratified, for example, each nation still interprets and applies the rules on the EEZ differently. This also applies to seaway navigation and the protection of the marine environment.
In this situation, Japan is expected to promote the sustainable use of aquatic resources and the coexistence with the marine environment and to play the leading role in contributing to the sound development of the international sea system for keeping order under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Japan depends greatly on the sea in all aspects of human activity. With the experience and technology acquired through many years in dealing with sea-related problems, Japan is responsible to the international society for playing the leading role in promoting cooperative relations with other nations and building the international order of the sea.
The Proposal for the Ocean Policy of Japan in the 21st Century appeals to what Japan should do to contribute to the international order of the sea.