The Second Island High School Student Summit was held this summer at Tokyo Metropolitan Ogasawara High School. The Summit was begun last year, with the aim of expanding the students’ views and ways of thinking, fostering more connections among the islands in the region, and leading to the development of human resources that will support the future of the islands’ local communities. This year, 20 students participated, including 12 students from six different Tokyo metropolitan high schools and eight students from our school. In the future, as a school located on an island, I hope that we will continue to support and watch over such exchange opportunities for high school students, and train youth that will “create” island communities.

Work has been completed on the new research experiment building and guesthouse at the International Coastal Research Center, which suffered devastating damage from the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami. Going forward, the center will not only increase its level of operations as an international base for coastal ocean research, but, as a research institute located in the devastated area, also serve as a base for research on impacts of earthquakes and tsunamis on marine ecosystems as well as continue efforts that contribute to the reconstruction and development of the local community.

The "Act on the Conservation of Remote Islands and Sustainability of Remote Islands' Community," in effect since April 1, 2017, provides for special measures aimed at the conservation of territorial and other waters through the maintaining of operations of inhabited remote islands that serve as operation bases for activities including fishing in territorial waters, ocean monitoring, and maintaining security in territorial waters; this is to be accomplished by having Japanese citizens in residence on the islands. Here, I will introduce the Japanese Government's efforts on this Act.