ABSTRACT
Transport, Tokyo, Japan, **Director, Office of Coast and Ocean Development, Development Division, Ports and Harbours Bureau, Ministry of Transport, Tokyo, Japan
PRESENT STATE OF UTILIZATION OF COASTAL OCEAN SPACE
Natural Characteristics of the Space
Japan is a narrow and long archipelago with a land area of approximately 380, 000 km. The country is encircled by the sea, and consists of four main islands (Hokkaido, Honhsu, Shikoku, and Kyushu) and some other 4000 isles (Fig. 1). The planis which play a major role as a state for human activities, consist of basins scattered in steep mountainous areas and small-scale alluvial plains. The 200 mile Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) covers approximately 4.51 million km2. If the land area is included, Japan covers some 4.89 million km2, which is equal to the whole area of the European Continent (excluding the USSR). Even if Japan is only a chain of islands in terms of land area, it ranks seventh in the world in terms of sea area (Fig. 2). The coastline adjacent to the sea has numerous bays, inlets, and isles, and the whole length of the coastline totals some 33,000 km which is extremely long, considering the small land area (Fig. 3). The coastline is extremely varied. Even if compared to those in foreign countries, Japan’s coastlines have more complicated geographical features and magnificent views, in sharp contrast to the small-scale, steep geographical features of the land.
