Abstract
Geoparks target all geoscientific multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary areas, whereas scientific topics of Japanese geoparks incline toward specific themes. Content analysis reveals that many geoparks attach greater importance to solid earth sciences (e.g. geology) and/or human geosciences (e.g. geography) than biogeosciences (e.g. paleontology), atmospheric and hydrospheric sciences (e.g. meteorology), and space and planetary sciences. Specialization coefficients clearly show this inclination, and suggest a shift from geological to geographical themes. Multivariate analyses also indicate several clusters of Japanese geoparks characterized mainly by geological and/or geographical contents. This specialization enumerates geological and/or geographical topics, and restricts a seamless geostory for interpreting a landscape. An educational program on the Ryukyu Islands focuses on various geomorphic processes related to the global environmental system. This program contributes to both an attractive and scientific geostory on interactions among atmosphere, hydrosphere, and geosphere. A seamless geostory using multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary approaches should be given more consideration in all Japanese geoparks, because it enhances a comprehensive outreach and education on geoscience.
