Japan's Arctic Policy: Status and Future Prospects

Abstract

Japan's Arctic Policy:Status and Future Prospects Sakiko Hataya (bio) In the Arctic, temperatures are rising three times as fast as the global average. Global warming has caused rapid and widespread changes in sea and land ice (glaciers and ice sheets), permafrost, snow cover, and other geological elements. Warmer Atlantic and Pacific waters flowing into the Arctic Ocean and reduced sea ice cover are resulting in the northward range expansions of sub-Arctic fish and marine mammals.1 These swift environmental changes have also led to increased use of the Northern Sea Route (NSR) through the polar region and greater resource development in the Arctic Ocean as international interests in the region continue to develop rapidly. Japan is not an Arctic state, but it is easily affected by the climate change taking place in the high north through oceanic and atmospheric circulation. It is the closest Asian country to the Arctic Ocean and as a result enjoys many opportunities in the region's economic and commercial sectors, such as access to the Arctic sea routes. Japan has been participating in and contributing to the Arctic Council discussions since it first gained observer status in 2013, and it has continued its observation and research activities on environmental changes in the Arctic. Japan expects to continue to actively contribute to the Arctic region. This essay reviews the history of Japan's Arctic policy and discusses the extent of the country's involvement in the Arctic region in recent years. Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, international relations in the Arctic have been rapidly changing. The functioning of the Arctic Council has all but ceased, and international research cooperation and data sharing with Russia have also been discontinued. Amid such complicated international relations, this essay outlines how Japan should be involved in the Arctic region. Japan's History in the Arctic The first milestone for Japan regarding engagement in Arctic affairs was the 1957 research expedition of Hokkaido University professor Ukichiro [End Page 20] Nakaya, who participated in the U.S. Arctic expedition to Greenland. For several years thereafter, Nakaya traveled to Greenland every summer to study the ice and snow. In the 1990s, Japan furthered its Arctic research capacity with the creation of the Arctic Environment Research Center at the National Institute of Polar Research in Tokyo. In 1991, Japan became the first non-Arctic state to establish an observation station in the region, in Ny-Ålesund, Norway, and was also the first non-Arctic state to join the International Arctic Science Committee. Hokkaido, the northernmost region of Japan hosted the First International Conference on Human Environment in Northern Regions in 1976, and it became a founding member of the Northern Forum that emerged from the conference series in 1991. Since 1996, Hokkaido has financially supported the high north region in the areas of economics, life, education, welfare, sport, and culture. In 1993, Japan joined the Barents Euro-Artic Council, the official body for intergovernmental cooperation in the Barents Sea region, as an observer state. Representatives of Japan were even present at the signing of the Ottawa Declaration that formally established the Arctic Council in 1996. Much more recently, Japan hosted the 2015 Arctic Science Summit Week, the most important international conference on Arctic research. After perestroika in the Soviet Union, the Arctic Ocean, which had long been closed to other states, began to open to international navigation, and Norway approached Japan to discuss developing the NSR as a commercial shipping route between the Far East and Europe. Following this proposal, Japan initiated joint international research on the NSR in 1993, with the Ship and Ocean Foundation of Japan (the forerunner to the Ocean Policy Research Institute of the Sasakawa Peace Foundation) partnering with the Fridtjof Nansen Institute of Norway and the Central Marine Research and Design Institute of Russia. These organizations mutually agreed on the importance of the NSR and launched the International NSR Programme to help map out potential shipping opportunities through the NSR above Russia. To establish the NSR as a permanent commercial sea route, developing hardware- and software-based navigation systems, an emergency refuge and rescue support system, and mutually satisfactory legal, tax, and tariff frameworks for...