Abstract
The national project of the Delineation of the Extended Continental Shelf was conducted by ministries of the government of Japan as one. The intention of the project was to summarize the information containing scientific basis on the outer limits of the extended continental shelf and to submit the application to the United Nations. The researchers of AIST in the field of marine geology carried out the marine survey, analyzed the collected rock samples and interpreted the results, and participated in the Task Force for the preparation of Japan's Submission. In this way, AIST contributed to the delineation of Japan's continental shelf by utilizing all the required resources as a professional marine geologist group. The information on Japan's extended continental shelf made up through the cooperation of concerned government ministries and agencies became the basis of the application which was finalized and submitted to the "Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf" of the United Nations by the government of Japan on November 12, 2008. And the government of Japan has received "the recommendations" as a result of the review by the commission on April 26, 2012. In this manuscript, the authors first explain the "continental shelf" and the "continental shelf of Japan." Then, they describe the background and the results of the participation of AIST researchers in the Task Force, which was really a rare opportunity in the sense that the utilization of scientific information contributed to the expansion of the legal rights over marine areas of Japan. Finally, they discuss the issues encountered in the operation of such a project.
