10 Japanese Law and Policy on Marine Environment Protection …
187
such as documents related to the MARPOL convention, Ballast Convention, and
Ship Recycling Convention.
51 Furthermore, some Class NK staff participate in IMO
conferences, including the Marine Environment Protection Committee, as part of the
Japanese government.
52
10.3 Recent Developments by the Ministry of Environment
Traditionally, Japanese policies to protect the marine environment have been closely
connected to shipping policies, and therefore, the MLIT has played a central role
in the Japanese government. As a result, as the MOE is a relatively new ministry
in the government, its role has been quite limited in the context of marine environment protection.
53 One of the reasons for this limitation might be the impression
that the involvement of the MOE would harm the Japanese maritime industry that
other ministries such as the MLIT, METI, and Fishing Agency manage.
54 In addition,
it can be sometimes difficult for MOE to cooperate with other ministries, because
‘(a)dministrative procedures in Japan, as in many other countries, are vertically structured, hindering cooperation and co-ordination across ministries and departments’.
55
However, recently, the MOE has looked to expand its scope of activities and begun to
address the issues of the marine environment. Against this background, this section
discusses recent Japanese activities for the protection of the marine environment
led by the MOE, namely the development of Marine Protected Areas (MPA) and
measurements to control marine litter.
51 ClassNK, ‘Statutory Services’, available at https://www.classnk.or.jp/hp/en/activities/statutory/
index.html (last visited 21 May 2019).
52 ClassNK, ‘International Activities’, available at https://www.classnk.or.jp/hp/en/activities/intern
ational/index.html (last visited 21 May 2019).
53 In Japan, the Environment Agency was established in 1971, and to strengthen the agency, the
MOE was established in 2001. See Hidefumi Kuraska, Environment Policy, 3rd ed (2014), pp. 32
and 50 (in Japanese).
54 Due to this passive attitude from the MOE toward the marine environment, interestingly, most
textbooks on environment policy and Japanese environmental law do not contain individual chapters
focusing on the marine environment despite the fact that Japan is surrounded by the ocean and its
environment is extremely important for Japan. See, for example, Kuraska, ibid; Akihisa Mori and
others, Environment Policy, (2014); Tadashi Otsuka, Environmental Law, 3rd ed (2010); Yoshinobu
Kitamura, Environmental Law, 4th ed (2017) (all in Japanese).
55 Mitsutaku Makino, Hiroyuki Matsuda and Yasunori Sakurai, ‘Expanding Fisheries CoManagement to Ecosystem-Based Management: A Case in the Shiretoko World Natural Heritage
Area, Japan’, Marine Policy, Vol. 33 (2009) p. 209.
187
such as documents related to the MARPOL convention, Ballast Convention, and
Ship Recycling Convention.
51 Furthermore, some Class NK staff participate in IMO
conferences, including the Marine Environment Protection Committee, as part of the
Japanese government.
52
10.3 Recent Developments by the Ministry of Environment
Traditionally, Japanese policies to protect the marine environment have been closely
connected to shipping policies, and therefore, the MLIT has played a central role
in the Japanese government. As a result, as the MOE is a relatively new ministry
in the government, its role has been quite limited in the context of marine environment protection.
53 One of the reasons for this limitation might be the impression
that the involvement of the MOE would harm the Japanese maritime industry that
other ministries such as the MLIT, METI, and Fishing Agency manage.
54 In addition,
it can be sometimes difficult for MOE to cooperate with other ministries, because
‘(a)dministrative procedures in Japan, as in many other countries, are vertically structured, hindering cooperation and co-ordination across ministries and departments’.
55
However, recently, the MOE has looked to expand its scope of activities and begun to
address the issues of the marine environment. Against this background, this section
discusses recent Japanese activities for the protection of the marine environment
led by the MOE, namely the development of Marine Protected Areas (MPA) and
measurements to control marine litter.
51 ClassNK, ‘Statutory Services’, available at https://www.classnk.or.jp/hp/en/activities/statutory/
index.html (last visited 21 May 2019).
52 ClassNK, ‘International Activities’, available at https://www.classnk.or.jp/hp/en/activities/intern
ational/index.html (last visited 21 May 2019).
53 In Japan, the Environment Agency was established in 1971, and to strengthen the agency, the
MOE was established in 2001. See Hidefumi Kuraska, Environment Policy, 3rd ed (2014), pp. 32
and 50 (in Japanese).
54 Due to this passive attitude from the MOE toward the marine environment, interestingly, most
textbooks on environment policy and Japanese environmental law do not contain individual chapters
focusing on the marine environment despite the fact that Japan is surrounded by the ocean and its
environment is extremely important for Japan. See, for example, Kuraska, ibid; Akihisa Mori and
others, Environment Policy, (2014); Tadashi Otsuka, Environmental Law, 3rd ed (2010); Yoshinobu
Kitamura, Environmental Law, 4th ed (2017) (all in Japanese).
55 Mitsutaku Makino, Hiroyuki Matsuda and Yasunori Sakurai, ‘Expanding Fisheries CoManagement to Ecosystem-Based Management: A Case in the Shiretoko World Natural Heritage
Area, Japan’, Marine Policy, Vol. 33 (2009) p. 209.