Since ancient times, the more remote frontiers have been more important to continental nations, which share borders with other countries, in terms of national defense, and every possible resource has been invested in remote regions. For Japan, an island nation made up of more than 6,800 islands, the sea is our frontier. The people of Japan have been relatively unaware of this frontier, all the more precisely because Japan is an island nation. Today, the ocean has tremendous potential as a frontier of resource development and economic growth. The development of its frontiers and the underlying premise of the enhancement of maritime governance are important to the maritime nation of Japan.

Since the 2010 Senkaku boat collision incident (collision of a Chinese fishing boat into Japan Coast Guard patrol vessels), there have been a series of approaches by unidentified ships and spy ships as well as numerous large-scale marine accidents. Because of these incidents, the importance of the Japan Coast Guard (JCG), which protects Japanese waters, has been increasing to a significant degree. However, the scale of the JCG is very small, with the number of full-time personnel being about 13,000 and the budget being around 180 billion yen. It is essential to strengthen the functionality of the JCG in order to protect Japanese national interests.

“Water is the most valuable resource in the world.” That is a line from a 007 James Bond movie but right now around the world, battles are raging over water resources. In China, some 1,000 lakes have disappeared in the last five decades. In Russia, the Aral Sea, once the world’s fourth largest lake, is disappearing. Japan cannot be indifferent to these developments as an increasing number of Chinese and other foreign companies are purchasing forests in Japan for their water resources. Japan should address water issues as a national policy priority.

About 20% of earthquakes of magnitude 6 or larger recorded in the world occurred in Japan, where there are about 2,000 active faults and 110 active volcanoes. Since ancient times, one of the essential roles of a country is to protect its people from natural disasters, such as the flooding of large rivers. It is also extremely important these days to protect the people of Japan from disasters. We should learn as much as possible from the tragic experience of the Great East Japan Earthquake in order to be prepared for any catastrophic disaster that may occur in the near future.

In the world ranking for number of overseas visitors, France has the top spot with 83 million tourists, followed by the United States, ranked second, with 67 million, and China, ranked third, with 58 million. As these figures show, major countries support their economy with tourism. Japan, however, is ranked 30th in the world. Japan has world-class latent tourism resources, including abundant nature, unique culture, sophisticated cities, and its highly appreciated national cuisine. We should pull out all the stops to achieve the target of 30 million overseas tourists.