Earth Blogs

Introduction

Throught history Japan connection with aquatic ecosystems has been deeply established by its relationship with the ocean. First of all, Japan is an island surrounded by the Sea of Japan, the Northern Pacific Ocean, the Sea of Okhotsk, the East China Sea, and the Philippine Sea. Due to its geographical location, Japan has been interacting with all these bodies of waters for a long time, and its culture has also been shaped by them. For example, in the contemporary Japanese society fish products provide 40% of the animal protein supply. This fact is not surprising taking into account that there are two oceanic currents that promote an enormous diversity of marine resources around this island: “The 

cold nutrient-rich current Oyashio flowing south collides with the warm current Kuroshio flowing north off the eastern coast of Japan, which creates a high productivity ecosystem” (figure 1). In addition, 23% of the global fish production takes place in the Northern Pacific Ocean, which is included in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of Japan.

Top Consumed Species

-Bluefin Tuna

This type of tuna is largely consumed by Japan and it constitutes a mayor industry with a consumption of 40,700 tonnes in the year 2011, where 62% came from Japanese territory and the rest from several countries including Mexico.

-Eel

In terms of this species, Japan is the top consumer of it and responsible for 70% of the worldwide production. Also, aquaculture represents a big role by taking care of almost the total domestic production of it, which represents a little bit less than half of its consumption and the rest is imported from countries like China.

Imports and Exports

When it comes to the exportation of fishery products, 90% of the total japanese production is used for domestic consumtion and so they have a limited amount of exports. This phenomena was affected also by the 2008 crisis which affected its exports, plus the 2011 fukushima incident contributed to higher imports and less exports of fishery products. This earthquake provoked the destruction of a considerable fishing facilities and elements, costing around 1,263 trillion yen in damages. On the other hand, Japan is dependent on imports due to the high demand of its consumers, turning to be the third biggest importer in the world where 18% of the total amount comes from China.

Regulations and Aministrative Strategies

There are several strategies whether domestic or international, therefore to help maintaing aquatic ecosystems in the sustainable way as posible. For this purpose in 2001, the Basic Law on Fisheries Policy was stablished so Japan can keep an environvental and sustainable perspective on this issue. Also, there are more than 19k employees working in both institutions; The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan (MAFF), and The Fisheries Agency.

Management Measures

• Total Allowable Effort (TAE)

This system is used to boost the input control by limiting the total fishing capacity. To do this, the strategy is to regulate the number of fishing vessels entering the EEZ and limit the fishing days.

• Total Allowable Catch (TAC)

The total allowable catch, is designed to help regulating the catches of the top 30 species, the species that are in the range of overexploitation, and the species caught by vessels that don’t correspond to Japan.

• Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing (IUU)

IUU is another global problem, as it damages the marine ecosystem and affects the species stock, plus it represents 19% of the total global catches valued in 10 billion Euros per year.

Therefore to counter the effects caused by IUU, Japan has creating a monitoring system that consists in 39 patrol boats and several aircrafts, to surveil the perimeter. Also, a Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) was implemented to control and monitor the vessels which operate in offshore and distant waters.

The Aichi Biodiversity Targets

Japan is one of the most populated countries in the world, in fact its population is about 126 million people, as well as one of the leading economies in the world, and it has a great influence on it. In addition, in the year 2010 the UN established a new protocol in Nagoya-Japan, regarding biodiversity called “Aichi Biodiversity Targets”. These targets are a series of goals and measures that have to be taken therefore to stop biodiversity loss in our planet. Also, it is expected to actually enhance the benefits that biodiversity can produce, or in other word “ecosystem services”, which are a series of elements produced by the ecosystem that we take advantage from and that are free like drinkable water, or breathable air.

Japan’s 2020 Olympics

Japan is going to hold once more one of the largest sport events, by hosting the Olympic and Paralympic games in the city of Tokyo in the year 2020. At the same time, these massive series of events have several environmental repercussions due to the amount of people that get involved in the process as a whole, plus the infrastructure designated for every single event. In fact, Japan has divided Tokyo into two zones in terms of urban areas; the heritage zone which includes several of the old venues from the Olympics of 1964, and the Tokyo bay zone which symbolizes the “metropolitan area´s future”. Everything that happens inside these boundaries during the 2020 games will define if Japan was able to achieve the level of sustainability that they are looking for.

Tokyo Sustainability Plan-Biodiversity

As the Olympic Games come closer, Tokyo has developed a sustainability plan to deal with several aspects that this event represent, including biodiversity. For 2020, they plan to deal with biodiversity, water and greenery issues. As a response, they Organizing Committee has come with three main points regarding environment and sustainability. The first point is to “set water, greenery and biodiversity-related targets”. The second element refers to “measures for mitigation and monitoring of impacts on the water environment (water quality and water resources), atmospheric environment, soil environment and the ecosystem, related to Games planning and operations”. At last, there are other “measures to mitigate the effect of the urban heat island phenomenon using water and greenery”.

Olympic Stadium

The National Olympic Stadium which was designed first by Zaha Hadid priced at $2.1 billion dollars and then replaced by Kengo Kuma’s model estimated to cost $1.5 billion dollars, is the perfect example of a venue that works to achieve all the previously sustainable goals mentioned. In fact, it is one of the biggest facilities built for this Games, capable of hosting 80,000 spectators.

The architect Kuma has established a clear statement about the use of its main material which is going to be timber instead of concrete, and wood will compose the structure and several other elements of the building.

Sustainable Materials Incorporated

Kengo Kuma has opted to use a series of different sustainable materials listed below, as well as strategies to incorporate to this project, and design an environmental friendly stadium.

Timber

• This material is obtained after treating wood for several construction processes. Indeed, timber is a reusable material and produces low greenhouse gas emissions, and when it doesn’t have any use it can be composted or burnt as a fuel.
• The wood that is going to be used for this project, will come from Japanese larch and cedar trees, which is going to decrease the CO2 emitted by transportation as well as lowering the energy to produce timber from these trees.
• At last, “timber stores up to 15 times the amount of CO2 released during its manufacture”.

Green Spaces

At last, according to Tokyo’s Metropolitan Government, by the inclusion of trees and plants on the three main walkways that compose the exterior of the building, CO2 emissions in the inner city will be reduced to help mitigate the “heat island effect” and reduce climate warming.

Japan Tectonic Plates

A series of islands that together conform Japan, are the result of four tectonic plates that share this area. The North American, Pacific, Eurasian, and Philippine Sea plates intersect with each other all along Japan’s territory (Figure 1). The main island called Honshu, which is affected by the coalition of the North American and Eurasian plates. Meanwhile, in the Pacific Ocean the Nankai trough which starts in Miyasaki and ends in Shizouka, is the location where a future earthquake threatens to perform damage on Shikoku and Kyushu islands.

Nankai Trough

The Nankai trough located in the south east ocean of Japan is divided into three main sections, as Tokai, Tonankai, and Nankai (Figure 2). This trough has been hit by several earthquakes in the past and they have occurred after every 120 years approximately, plus it is a subduction zone capable of producing mega-thrust earthquakes.

In general, the records that we have about historical telluric movements in this trough, show that the three sections tend to coincide almost at the same time when one of them shake. However, the last record shows that the Tonankai section was hit by a (7.9 mag) earthquake on 1944, and two years later, the Nankai section followed with a (8.0 mag) earthquake, but the Tokai section was not ruptured by the last movements and it has been quite for 163 years (Figure 3)

Tokai Earthquake

As mentioned before, the Tokai section didn’t react concordantly with the other sections more than seventy years ago, and is has not been active in the last 162 years. According to the Geographical Survey Institute of Japan (GSI) that has been monitoring this area for the last 100 years, they conclude that “a steady strain accumulation has been happening in this region”, therefore the Tokai section is consider to have a potential Mw8 earthquake. In addition, due to the time gap or silence that this regular type of earthquake has, it could happen at any moment and is expected to occur when the subsidence stops, followed by an opposite upward movement.

Estimated Damage

The Shizuoka Prefecture in Japan which is an area that is going to be directly hit by the Tokai earthquake, has elaborated a document to register all possible damages and promote preparedness against this natural event.Also, is important to consider that Shizouka population according to the 1995 census was 3,737,360, and in 1998 this prefecture had 1,528,349 buildings.

• Physical Damage (Buildings)

In terms of architectural structures, the document portrays four categories of possible damage including; serious, moderate, slight, and flooding above floor level damage. As a conclusion, it’s estimated that around 800,000 buildings will receive one of the different types of damage listed before.

• Human damage

In this section, damage is distributed in three categories; death, severe injury, and moderate injury. According to the predictions, an average of 1,000 people will die, 2,700 will be severe injured, and 15,000 will suffer a moderate injury.

Earthquake Countermeasures

Therefore to protect lives and property, Japan has been investing in several projects like; communication facilities, tsunami prevention facilities, firefighting facilities, reconstruction of earthquake-resistant hospitals, schools and social welfare facilities, evacuation routes, and landslide countermeasures. The cost from 1979 to 2009 of these elements so far has been of 1,908 billion yen.

In addition to these measures, Japan Meteorological Agency has a guide to help predict the Tokai earthquake and contribute to lower the effects that this natural event will produce. This guide consists in three main different stages.

• Red alert

When the prime ministers issues a warning declaration due to a high risk regarding the Tokai earthquake. Later on, a response is given towards this declaration by the Establishment of Headquarters for Earthquake Disaster Prevention.

• Yellow alert

This second level alert happens when an observed phenomenon that could affect or promote the Tokai earthquake takes place. Then, there’s a response to the government and local-governments disaster management plans, followed by prevention measures.

• Blue alert

The blue alert takes place when any anomalous phenomena are observed. The distinction here is that there is no action required, except for information gathering.