2007 Annual Report - jamstec japan agency for marine-earth ...

Introduction
organizations/facilities serve as the managerial base of the Agency and
has supported the development of the Agency as a research institute. We
Under the belief of "knowing the earth through oceans," the Japan
Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology aims to contribute to
the sustainable development of humans through accumulation of scientific
knowledge by making the most of the Agency's human resources,
research facilities and other resources to cope with environmental changes
on a global scale represented by global warming and large-scale natural
disasters such as earthquakes with epicenters in oceanic areas.
At the end of FY 2007, the agency completed the fourth year since its
inauguration on April 1, 2004. In the past four years, time flied literally.
However, thanks to the warm support of the citizens of Japan, the Agency
has been able to successfully proceed with its projects and compile an
annual report on its activities conducted in FY 2007. I would like to take
this opportunity to express our thanks for your support.
Looking back at FY 2007, one of the major topics was the commencement
of international operation of the deep sea drilling vessel CHIKYU,
which is our extensive project that took approximately 15 years from the
concept to completion of the vessel. From now on, we will strive to operate
the vessel as the main platform of the Integrated Ocean Drilling
Program (IODP), in which a large number of countries including Japan,
the United States and Europe participate, in order to report various
achievements to the people of Japan. As a first step, we will continue to
steadily work on a series of plans concerning the Nankai Trough off the
Kii Peninsula, which will be the first scientific drilling, in the coming fiscal
year and thereafter.
In addition, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
won the Nobel Peace Prize. As an organization that has substantially contributed
to IPPCC's activities through efforts such as predictive research
utilizing the Earth Simulator, it is a great honor also for us that IPCC,
which has continually presented recommendations from a scientific viewpoint
concerning climate changes including global warming, was recognized
in such a way.
The Agency's contribution to IPCC has been made mainly through our
research organization called Frontier Research Center for Global Change.
The center celebrated its 10th anniversary in FY 2007. In addition, the
oceanographic research vessel MIRAI and the deep sea research vessel
KAIREI, which have supported the center's research activities in scientific
observation, both celebrated the 10th anniversary of their services. These
intend to operate these organizations and facilities so that they can work
more productively in the next decade.
FY 2007 was a year where oceans drew much attention also in terms
of national policies. Specifically, the base for forcefully promoting oceanrelated
policies under an integrated structure has been built through the
establishment of the Basic Act on Ocean Policy and the formulation of the
Basic Plan on Ocean Policy in accordance with the act. The Basic Plan on
Ocean Policy stipulates various policies including "Improvement of
Scientific Knowledge of the Oceans." Our Agency is willing to contribute
to the development of Japan, which is an oceanic nation, by actively participating
in relevant policies.
Global issues such as those on oceans and global environment need to
be perceived from an extensively cross-sectoral and integrated viewpoint,
instead of being unilaterally viewed from one field of science and engineering.
Under the motto of "unified comprehension of the life system on
the earth," our Agency institutionalized a research structure based on a
system science approach beyond the existing fields and methodologies in
FY 2007. We will start specific research activities in the next fiscal year.
In the first step, we will study the vicinities of deep-sea hydrothermal
vents, which are said to be close to the environment of the primitive earth,
and commence research for elucidating how life occurred and spread from
the ocean while focusing on the geological environment and hydrothermal
eruptions as well as the mutual relationship and action between microorganisms
and the likes that depend on this environment. Our Agency
intends to enhance research and development activities that are conducted
from such a comprehensive viewpoint and that directly benefit society.
We promise to live up to your expectations for those achievements.
As I mentioned in the beginning, our Agency was able to steadily
accumulate achievements through the four fiscal years owing to your support.
The coming fiscal year, FY 2008, is the final fiscal year of the current
mid-term plan. In closing the introduction to the annual report FY
2007, I would like to convey that the Agency will press forward to make
FY 2008 a year of great progress for the next mid-term plan based on the
FY 2007 achievements described in this annual report.
Yasuhiro Kato
President, Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology