Author(s)

M. Takezawa, S. Kubota, Y. Maeno, Y. Yamada & N. Takahashi

Abstract

The coastal zone of Japan of about 34,000 km is dotted with about 3000 fishing harbors. At present, about 270,000 workers in the fishery industry process about 5,300,000 tons of fish annually in Japan. However, fish catches have been decreasing since 1980, and the incomes of fishermen have also been decreasing. The fishermen near the largest cities have access to incomes outside of the fishing industry, but it is not easy to get a side income in the small fisheries of rural areas. As a result, many young people are moving to large cities, and aging people are staying in the small fisheries. In the development of cities in the 20th century, many skyscrapers were built in the largest cities, and much of the land was covered by asphalt and concrete. However, in the 21st century, many tired city dwellers

Keywords