is a bay in the city of
Shima,
Mie Prefecture
is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Mie Prefecture has a population of 1,781,948 () and has a geographic area of . Mie Prefecture is bordered by Gifu Prefecture to the north, Shiga Prefecture an ...
,
Japan
Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
. It is part of the
Ise-Shima
The region of Japan, also called the , refers to the areas of eastern Mie Prefecture in or around Ise-Shima National Park, which include the cities Ise, Toba, Shima, and parts of the town of Minami-Ise. The area thrives on tourism, with many ...
region and is one of three marine environments in Shima.
The bay sees many tourists each year, in particular due to a train network owned by
Kintetsu which runs trains from both
Osaka
is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...
and
Nagoya
is the largest city in the Chūbu region of Japan. It is the list of cities in Japan, fourth-most populous city in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020, and the principal city of the Chūkyō metropolitan area, which is the List of ...
to
Kashiko-jima, an island in the bay.
History
The Ago Bay area was originally known as "Miketsu-kuni," an allusion to its status as a food source for the surrounding community.
was first invented in the bay by
Kōkichi Mikimoto
was a Japanese entrepreneur who is credited with creating the first cultured pearl and subsequently starting the cultured pearl industry with the establishment of his luxury pearl company Mikimoto.Ward, Fred. Pearls: Bethesda, MD: Gem Book Pub ...
in 1893.
The cultured pearl industry soon took root in the area. However, in the 1900s, environmental degradation affected the bay's marine life. Development of the surrounding land and the construction of concrete dikes cut into the area's tidal flats. In addition, a red tide of
Heterocapsa circularisquama blooms in 1992 killed off much of the pearl oyster population, and an uptick in
hypoxia wiped out more marine life in the 1990s and in 2002.
The Committee for the Promotion of Environmental Restoration in Ago Bay was founded by scientists and government officials in 2008 to attempt to reverse this environmental damage. This led to a large-scale tidal flat restoration project in 2009, centered on a 2-hectare area of the bay near Ishibuchi in Shima.
This was the first tidal flat restoration project in Japan at the time.
A flap gate was opened in the dike to increase water flow, clams were stocked, and seagrasses were planted. A public education program was also put into place, and students in nearby schools sampled and observed the changes in marine life.
As of 2006, Ago Bay and surrounding areas made up one-third of Japan's cultured pearl production.
References
External links
description
Bays of Japan
Landforms of Mie Prefecture
Shima, Mie
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