{"id":2444,"date":"2021-04-24T13:07:20","date_gmt":"2021-04-24T06:07:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bluejapan.org\/fr\/?page_id=2444"},"modified":"2021-05-31T13:41:36","modified_gmt":"2021-05-31T06:41:36","slug":"tohoku","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/bluejapan.org\/fr\/tohoku\/","title":{"rendered":"T\u014dhoku Region"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t

\u2003\nT\u014cHOKU\n<\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

Northern Honsh\u016b\u2019s T\u014dhoku (North-East<\/em>) region offers remarkable underwater environments, with mostly dry-suit, cool water diving in the northern parts, and seasonally warmer waters to the south.
This is especially true on the Sea of Japan side<\/strong>, where waters can rise up to 28\u00b0C in summer months thanks to the Tsushima current<\/strong>, which branches off from the main Kuroshio current.<\/p>

In some T\u014dhoku areas, you\u2019ll find patches of cultivated kelp and actual kelp forests<\/strong> in season (mostly between April and June), along with sandy seaweed environments, iconic endemic species such as squid (including the bigfin reef squid<\/strong> (Sepioteuthis lessoniana<\/em>) and the Asian sheepshead wrasse<\/strong> (Semicossyphus reticulatus<\/em>) and more seasonal species, along with a rich macro life (shrimps, crabs, nudibranchs, etc\u2026).<\/p>

T\u014dhoku’s Pacific coast is one of Japan’s major fishing grounds, as the warm waters of the Kuroshio collide with the cool waters of the Oyashio current just off its coastline, causing major seasonal plankton blooms.<\/p>

T\u014dhoku\u2019s marine ecosystem has always been one of the primary resources of the area, through fishing, of course, but also aquaculture, and the area was severely hit by the earthquake and tsunami that struck the Pacific coast on March 11, 2011.<\/strong>
Ever since disaster struck, dedicated volunteer divers have been in the water to recover and remove debris, and also to rehabilitate the local environment (recycling tsunamis debris into physical structures to provide shelter for marine life such as abalone and scallops and also restart edible kelp cultivation (konbu<\/em>).<\/p>

We would like to salute the outstanding efforts of a friend and former colleague of ours, Hiroshi Sat\u014d \/ Kuma-san, who has been actively involved in coordinating volunteer activities of underwater recovery, cleaning and environmental rehabilitation of his local Iwate waters, and has just celebrated 10th<\/sup> anniversary of this work in progress.
You can read more about the activities of the Sanriku Volunteer Divers<\/strong> here<\/strong><\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t

MAIN DIVING AREAS MENTIONED<\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t

Sea of Japan Coast<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
  • The Oga Peninsula<\/strong> (Akita Prefecture) which offers relatively warm water due to the Tsushima current and impressive rock formations, and where it is possible to dive between June and October.<\/li>
  • Sado Island<\/strong> on the Sea of Japan side (Niigata Prefecture), which is the sixth-largest island of Japan in area following the four main islands and the main Island of Okinawa.<\/li>
  • Ryutoan-jima (Yotsushima), <\/strong>a small island of 800 metres off the coast of Yamagata Prefecture.<\/li>
  • Shonai area <\/strong>(Yamagata Prefecture)<\/li>
  • Tobishima, <\/strong>an island 40 km off the coast of Yamagata prefecture.<\/li><\/ul>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
    \n\t\t\t
    \n\t\t\t\t\t\t
    \n\t\t\t\t
    \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
    \n\t\t\t