Abstract
In Okinawa, since its return to Japanese sovereign in 1972, serious soil erosion has been caused by land improvement projects. In Onna village, fishermen succeeded in preventing the erosion which had done extensive damage to the marine resource. To take up the problem of erosion for discussion and tackle the problem in the community, the fishermen managed to re-organize the community. They didn't claim their fishing right exclusively, because the institution of fishing rights was not yet fixed in the community in Okinawa at that time. So, they admitted marine use to others, including tourism, to intervene in the conflict, and took action to conserve the marine eco-system. At last, they gained the position of adjusting marine use and of controlling marine resource for the communitys’ benefit. This is how they took the initiative in forming some order of marine use. Consequently, ‘The advance negotiation system’ was established, that is, in Onna village, any development plan cannot be executed without check by fishermen whether it is likely to cause soil erosion or not. In this case, the minority victim succeeded in taking up a problem in the community for public discussion about the regional resource management through a community organization.
