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Japan’s diving has not historically been particularly accessible for foreigners, but over the past few years it has become much easier, and my return visits have shown me that it is certainly worth the effort.
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I had stayed indoors for far too long—three months—and my body was craving the ocean as it never had before.
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During early spring of each year, the firefly squids ascend to the surface and put on a transcendental show of their own—their luminous organs glow bright blue as they spawn and are agitated by waves on the ocean surface near the shoreline.
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The submarine was found by the Lost 52 Project, which locates lost U.S. World War II submarines, and is the first U.S. submarine discovered off the coast of Japan.
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Izu, a large mountainous peninsula, has the largest number of dive sites on the mainland. This peninsula is a result of the Philippine Sea Plate colliding with the Okhotsk Plate at the Nankai Trough.
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Kinki’s southernmost dive spots are draped in lush soft corals, reminiscent of the tropical reefscapes of Southeast Asia, but Kinki is only “tropical” for half of the year.
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Japan calls for an end to a decades-old ban on commercial whaling arguing there is no longer a scientific reason for what was supposed to be a temporary measure.
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By analysing the shells of giant clams, we can learn more about the environmental changes that occurred in the past.
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As both its common and Latin names (Andrias japonicus) suggest, it is an endemic species of Japan that is both protected under federal legislation and formally nominated as a special natural monument because of its cultural and educational
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Volcanic in nature, visually the islands are quite remarkable and rise spectacularly out of the surrounding deep waters and oceanic trenches.
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When studying a specimen of walking coral retrieved from the Oshima Strait in southern Japan, ecologist Professor Makoto Kato and his colleague Momoko Igawa made an unexpected discovery.
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On 2 July archaeologists surveying the waters off the island of Takashima confirmed a shipwreck found here is a vessel from a 13th century Mongolian fleet that foundered in a typhoon in a failed attempt to invade Japan.
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The Kerama Islands are a group of 22 islands located 32 kilometres (20 mi) southwest of Okinawa Island in Japan
The designated area includes 30 islets and reefs, and covers 3,520 hectares of dry land and 94,750 hectares of ocean. It lies 35 kilometres west of Okinawa Main Island and is famous for its rich aquatic environment. It is home to 248 species of coral.
The government will restrict development within the areas, such as the extraction of sand. It also plans to build coral restoration facilities to counter the damage done in the past.
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Japan has a plethora of Pacific Ocean islands that are unknown to the world. There are three main sets of islands south of Kyushu: the Nansei Islands, the Sakishima Islands and the Yaeyama Islands.
