National node - japan
Photo credit: Nicki Eliza Schinow / Unsplash
Table of Contents
Introducing ECOP Japan
ECOP Japan とは
Photo: CanvaPro
Welcome to the National Node page for the Japanese network of the ECOP Programme. Surrounded by the ocean from all sides and home to a diverse marine environment from the North to South, Japan has built its history alongside the ocean, with various stakeholders living in harmony with it over the generations.
ECOP Japan is a network of Early Career Ocean Professionals (ECOPs) in Japan, who are actively involved in various ocean sectors (research, education, government, industry, NPO/NGO, etc.). We introduce a wide range of ECOP activities across disciplines, provide useful information and opportunities (events, employment, grants, etc.) to address issues that face ECOPS, and identify ECOPs who will support the future of the ocean sectors. Through these activities, ECOP Japan will contribute to the seven outcomes of the UN Decade of Ocean Science.
四方を海に囲まれ、南北に長く多様な海洋環境を有する日本には、様々な分野のステークホルダーたちが海と共に暮らし、海と共に紡いできた歴史があります。
ECOP Japanは、海洋に関わる様々な分野（研究、教育、行政、産業、NPO/NGOなど）で活躍する、日本の海洋若手専門家（ECOP）のネットワークです。分野の垣根を超えて日本のECOPの活動を幅広く紹介するとともに、日本のECOPが抱える課題に役立つ情報や機会（イベント、就職、助成など）を提供し、海洋分野の未来を支える日本のECOPの発掘を行います。こうした活動を通して、国連海洋科学の10年が目指す７つの海の成果に、ECOP Japanは貢献していきます。
Meet the ECOP Japan Coordination Unit
ECOP Japan コーディネーター
Kotaro Tanaka
Kotaro Tanaka is an ECOP who aims to expand a transdisciplinary ECOP network in Japan and bridge it to networks in other nations/regions. He started his career as a marine bio-acoustician, and is currently working as a research fellow in Ocean Policy Research Insitute (OPRI) of the Sasakawa Peace Foundation to promote the digital transformation of the ocean in a way that maintain a respectful relationships with society.
ECOPの一員である田中広太郎は、日本を拠点として活躍するECOPの分野を超えたネットワーク拡大や、他国/他地域との橋渡しを進めることを目指しています。海洋生物音響の専門家としてキャリアをスタートさせ、現在は笹川平和財団海洋政策研究所の研究員として、海洋におけるデジタル化推進や社会との関わりについての調査研究を行っています。
Yushi Morioka
Yushi Morioka is one of the ECOP Japan coordinators, helping to build the ECOP network in Japan and promote ECOP activities throughout Asia.
He is a passionate oceanographer at JAMSTEC, where he studies a role of the ocean in climate. He is also actively involved in outreach activities to share the fun of ocean science with young people.
森岡優志はECOP Japan コーディネーターの一人で、日本におけるECOPネットワークの構築とECOPの活動をアジアに普及させることを支援しています。海洋研究開発機構（JAMSTEC）では、気候における海洋の役割を研究する熱心な海洋学者。海洋科学の楽しさを若者たちに伝えるアウトリーチ活動にも積極的に取り組んでいます。
Kohei Hamamoto
Kohei Hamamoto is an ECOP who wishes to assist other ECOPs who encounter difficulties in networking, as well as share opportunities for youth to receive a science-based education. He began his career as a marine biologist in Okinawa and has conducted ecological research using a variety of organisms, including sea cucumbers, mollusks, and even bacteria. He is also an avid diver who frequently finds himself underwater, and therefore wishes to protect the beautiful ocean for future generations.
濱本耕平は、横のつながりを必要としている日本国内のECOPの支援や、ユースの世代に科学的事実に基づいた教育機会を提供したいと考えている、ECOP Japanチームの一員です。広島県で生まれ育ち、沖縄で海洋生物学を学び始めて以後、棘皮動物や軟体動物などを用いて生態学的な研究を行っています。彼はダイビングの愛好家でもあり、きれいで魅力的な海を後世に残してゆくために、研究や教育を通して環境保全に貢献したいと考えています。
Hana Matsubara
Hana Matsubara is an ECOP who aims to strengthen the network of ECOPs based in Japan through activities such as communication via social media and webinars. Hana has worked as a JICA Volunteer (Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteer) promoting community-based fisheries management in the Solomon Islands after obtaining a master’s degree. Hana is currently pursuing a Ph.D. at the University of Tokyo, focusing on the interrelation between sustainable coastal fisheries resources and gender equity.
松原花はECOP Japanチームの一員として、SNSを用いた広報活動やウェビナーの開催等を通じ、日本を拠点として活躍するECOPのネットワーク強化を目指しています。水産資源に関する研究で修士号を取得した後、国際協力機構（JICA）海外協力隊（水産開発隊員）としてソロモン諸島で活動した経験から研究的疑問を見出し、現在は東京大学大学院で沿岸漁業資源の持続可能な利用とジェンダー平等の関わりをテーマに博士研究を行っています。
ECOP Japan Survey Report
The ECOP Japan report on the Japan National survey was officially released on 1 April 2024, and was given a special preview during the second ECOP Japan Symposium, which was organized by the Ocean Policy Research Institute (OPRI) of the Sasakawa Peace Foundation in Tokyo, Japan. You can read the report in both English and Japanese.
Learn more about ECOP Japan
ECOP Japan についてもっと知りたい
Japan Video letters
ECOP Japan ビデオレター
Japan Video Letters is a series of interviews with Japan’s Early Career Ocean Professionals, across many sectors from Academia, to conservation, to fisheries. Meet the ECOPs who are the next generation of Ocean Leaders in Japan and learn about their unique perspectives regarding the UN Ocean Decade.
Meet Aoi Sugimoto, Japan Fisheries Research and Education Agency (FRA)
ECOP Japan: 杉本あおいさん
Meet Yota Takakura, Innoqua Inc.
ECOP Japan: 高倉葉太さん
Meet Yoshiko Kondo, Nagasaki University
ECOP Japan: 近藤能子さん
Meet Kazura Koda, Mitsui O.S.K.Lines (MOL)
ECOP Japan: 香田和良さん
Meet Tatsuya Sato, Freelance curator, underwater photographer, and fisherman.
ECOP Japan: 佐藤達也さん
Meet Yukino Kinjo, Ethical Entrepreneur, founder of Project MANATII and Reef safe sunscreen
ECOP Japan: 金城 由希乃さん
Meet Yusuke Tanaka, Ocean Eyes Co., Ltd,
ECOP Japan: 田中祐介さん
The "UN Ocean Decade ECOP Japan Symposium" 2024
On March 7th, 2024, the second ECOP Japan Symposium was organized by the Ocean Policy Research Institute (OPRI) of the Sasakawa Peace Foundation in Tokyo, Japan.
This event aimed to expand the network of ECOPs across diverse fields, sectors, and areas within Japan. Ten ECOPs, ranging from scientists to lifesavers and fishers, shared their activities, discussed future directions, and collaborated on the ECOP Japan poster, portraying their vision for the ocean in alignment with the 7 Outcomes of the Ocean Decade. The symposium took place in a hybrid format with simultaneous interpretation, attracting around 300 participants from both within and outside of Japan. A recording of the event in English is available on YouTube.
The event report is available in both 🇬🇧 English and 🇯🇵 Japanese.
Photos: The Sasakawa Peace Foundation
As an output of the symposium, and inspired by similar efforts from the ECOP Canada team, the ECOP Japan node co-designed a poster that provides a graphical summary of actions that can be taken for each of the seven Ocean Decade outcomes, from the viewpoint of ECOPs (only available in Japanese; the English version is in preparation). The message at the center (”海でつながろう”) says “Let’s connect by the ocean”, meaning the connection between people and ocean, and the connection among ECOPs across fields, sectors, and areas (which is the philosophy of ECOP Japan and ECOP Japan symposium). The donut-shaped illustration visually indicates such connections among different factors relating to the ocean.
ECOP Japan Symposium 2022: "Toward creating ECOP network in UN Decade of Ocean Science"
ECOPシンポジウム「国連海洋科学の10年における若手ネットワークの構築に向けて」
A report on the Symposium
Prepared by Prepared by Kotaro Tanaka, Research Fellow
at the Ocean Policy Research Institute of The Sasakawa Peace Foundation is available here.
