We have conducted research on the current situation and future prospects of sea transportation between 8 Japan Sea Ports (Noshiro, Funakawa, Akita, Sakata, Niigata, Fushiki Toyama, Sakaiminato, Hamada) and ports of the Russian Far East. These 8 ports have developed their sea transportation with Russian Far East to handle natural resources such as lumber and coal, to open a regular ferry service and to export used cars. However, recently the political and economic situation in East Asia including the Far East have drastically changed leading to a diversification of sea transportation and logistics. The local governments and private sector along with the ports are required to take quick measures to develop new export products promoting the invitation of enterprises and new industries, to construct the infrastructure of domestic transportation like “Japan Sea Coastal Expressway” among the Japan Sea Ports to promote collaboration and renovate the port infrastructure to meet the diversification of the handling items.

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Geographic proximity, common economic interests and political strife towards normalization of the relations between the Russian Federation and Japan are supposed to result in a positive dynamics of economic exchanges between the two nations including the increase in the cargo volumes shipped through the Japanese and Russian ports across the Sea of Japan. However, the results are moderate throughout the recent years as we see more of a fading maintenance of the old cooperation rather than rapid growth. In mass media and expert analysis, this is mainly explained by the declined purchase power of Russian business due to the fall of the Russian currency accompanied by the international and Japanese sanctions against Russia. But is that the only reason? What else influences the volumes of Russian-Japanese trade in East Asia? This article observes current Russian-Japanese trade and cooperation in the sphere of sea transportation and makes an attempt to clarify the existing problems and future prospects in collaboration between the Japanese and Russian ports across the Sea of Japan..

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To establish the sovereignty of a state over its territory, consent by other states is required. Lack of consent or the consent given only implicitly may lead to serious disputes. The essence of international territorial law is the consolidation of the legal status quo derived from the power relations of the past. While it is possible to change the legal status by means of mutual consent reflecting the power relations of the present, the unilateral change by force of the status quo is illegal and does not affect the legal status of the disputed territory. The wrong perception on the legal effect of “effective control” may give rise to unnecessary intensifications of territorial disputes in East Asia. Discourses on justice regarding those territorial disputes vary greatly from country to country. We need wisdom to overcome the conflicts over different perceptions of law and justice for the settlement of those disputes.

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This articles reports part of the research conducted between June, 2015, and March, 2016, which was titled: Offender Rehabilitation Initiatives through Arts and Culture in Akita. Akita Prefecture is rich in traditional crafts and arts and they are important social and economic resources. However, recent decrease in demands due to changing lifestyle, influx of mass-products, lack of young craftsman, and decreased access to relevant natural materials challenge the sustainability of the traditional crafts. This project explores the potential of nurturing such craftsman through trainings offered to (ex-)offenders in a criminal justice system. Interviews with stakeholders revealed the structural, economic and social factors linked to this challenge. This paper proposes the importance of further collaboration among the government, prefectural government and citizen’s groups in order to enable organized and strategic efforts to link offender rehabilitation and local social and cultural needs. It also advocates for further structural support to encourage the autonomy of grass-roots actors.

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Akita Age Laboratory (AAL) was launched in the Institute of Asian Studies and Regional Collaboration in December 2016 for the purpose of conducting various studies on “community design” in the aging and depopulating society. Since Akita prefecture has one of the highest aging and depopulating rates in Japan, it can be regarded as the most suitable region for pursuing such studies. AAL also aims to become an interdisciplinary and international research hub to promote projects on aging and depopulation, which will be faced by many countries eventually. The mission, activities and collaborative scheme of AAL are discussed in this paper.

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The author, who runs an outbound tourist operating company in Thailand, visited Akita to explore potential tourism resources in June 2016 and conducted an Internet survey in Thai in September 2016 with 218 respondents. Akita has tourism resources attractive for Thai tourists and, after positioning itself in the international tourism market and implementing an appropriate marketing strategy, Akita would attract many Thai tourists in the future.

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