Ocean Newsletter
No.463 November 20, 2019
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Marine-tic Highway: features and attractions and how to promote it
Satoshi IWASHITA
Boat Affairs Office, Shipbuilding and Machinery Division, Maritime Bureau, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and TourismThe Marine-tic Highway is a model route for cruising pleasure boats that provides access to Sea Stations, gourmet spots, and sightseeing areas. “Non-material consumption” opportunities can be expected from the currently organized 16 routes, which makes possible safe and easy cruising to a wide variety of travelers and gourmands, as well as traditional boat users. -
Solutions to River and Marine Debris through Arakawa River Clean-aid
Kazuyuki IMAMURA
Director/ Office Manager, NPO Arakawa River Clean-aid ForumArakawa River Clean-aid began in 1994 with its activities to clean up the Arakawa River environment, which had been polluted during Japan’s period of high economic growth. It currently receives support from the national government as well as local governments bordering the river, and is mainly operated by citizen groups, with over 200,000 people having participated in its activities over the last 25 years. Implementation of the “Osaka Blue Ocean Vision,” adopted at the G20 Osaka Summit in June of 2019, will require promotion of further countermeasures to address river and marine debris. -
A Cradle of Life—the Sone Tidal Flats as Fieldwork for Ocean Education
Ritsuko FURUSAWA
Principal, Sone Higashi Municipal Elementary School, Kitakyushu City, Fukuoka PrefectureThanks to the presence in its school district of the Sone Tidal Flats, Sone Higashi Elementary School enjoys an abundant natural environment. Taking the Sone Tidal Flats as the object of its fieldwork, the whole school is engaged in ocean education. Our activities are centered on the Integrated Studies Period, and we are actively involving ourselves in the “people, things, and matters” of the Sone Tidal Flats. We are focusing on “experience, discovery, and contribution,” as we learn to see the environment as something that concerns each of us as members of the Sone Higashi district who want to improve our hometown. We are raising children who take pride in their region and are working towards the future.