A School for Marine Sciences and Local Hopes in the Sanriku Coastal Area

Local areas on the Sanriku Coast, which have suffered depopulation and aging in recent years, were severely devastated by the Great East Japan Earthquake and the subsequent massive tsunami in 2011. Local communities there are now seeking ways for the region’s restoration and future development by utilizing the sea. On the Sanriku Ria coast, each bay shows different oceanographic features which supposedly contribute to distinctive fishery products, cultures and customs in their localities. However, such relationships between natural environments and human societies in these areas have been poorly understood. In this project, we will characterize oceanographically and socially each bay area along the Sanriku Ria Coast through a multi-disciplinary approach and try to understand a causal relationship between marine environments and the structure of local communities in view of the impact from the Great East Japan Earthquake and following reconstruction processes. We also conduct an educational activity --- interactive classes at junior high schools in Sanriku coastal areas --- to find the potential of the sea for the region’s restoration and development with young people who will play a leading role in the future. A virtual school “Marine Sciences and Local Hopes” will be established in the International Coastal Research Center, AORI, the University of Tokyo located in Otsuchi, Iwate Prefecture to discuss hope with young people and other members of the communities in the Sanriku Coastal area.

- Senior Associate Director/Professor･Nakamura Naofumi･Institute of Social Science

- Kawamura, T., Takami, H., Hayakawa, J, Won, N.-I., Muraoka, D. and Kurita, Y. Changes in abalone and sea urchin populations in rocky reef ecosystems on Sanriku Coast damaged by the massive tsunami and other environmental changes associated with the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011. Global Environmental Research, 18, 47-56, 2014.
- Kawamura, T. Marine environments and organisms in Otsuchi Bay. In: Ground design for the future from Otsuchi, 96-121, Showado, Kyoto, 249pp., 2016.
- Kawamura, T., Fukuda, H. and Aoyama, J. 河村知彦･福田秀樹･青山潤.Disaster, present situation and future applications of International Coastal Research Center (Otsuchi, Iwate). Nippon Suisan Gakkaishi, 83, 98-101,2017.
- Kawamura, T., Takami, H., Hayakawa, J., Muraoka, D. and Tamaki,H. Changes in rocky reef seaweed-beds attacked by the mega-earthquake and subsequent massive tsunamion Pacific coast of northeast Japan. Nippon Suisan Gakkaishi, 83, 672-676, 2017.