The is a body of salt water surrounded by

Fukuoka is the List of Japanese cities by population, sixth-largest city in Japan and the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The city is built along the shores of Hakata Bay, and has been a center of international commerce since ancient times. ...

Saga Sagas are prose stories and histories, composed in Iceland and to a lesser extent elsewhere in Scandinavia. The most famous saga-genre is the (sagas concerning Icelanders), which feature Viking voyages, migration to Iceland, and feuds between ...

Nagasaki , officially , is the capital and the largest Cities of Japan, city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. Founded by the Portuguese, the port of Portuguese_Nagasaki, Nagasaki became the sole Nanban trade, port used for tr ...

, and

Kumamoto Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Kumamoto Prefecture has a population of 1,748,134 () and has a geographic area of . Kumamoto Prefecture borders Fukuoka Prefecture to the north, Ōita Prefecture t ...

s, all of which lie on the island of

Kyūshū is the third-largest island of Japan's four main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands (i.e. excluding Okinawa and the other Ryukyu (''Nansei'') Islands). In the past, it has been known as , and . The historical regio ...

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 the largest bay in Kyūshū. Its deepest point is only about 50 meters (165 ft) deep, and extreme tides exceed , covering roughly . Isahaya Bay is a branch of the Ariake Sea. Across the Amakusa Islands lies the Yatsushiro Sea. Many harbors are located on the coast of the Ariake Sea. Among them are Misumi (in the city of

Uki, Kumamoto file:Misumi West Port 08.jpg, 290px, Misumi West Port file:Street of Matsuai 02.jpg, 290px, Street in Matsuae is a Cities of Japan, city in Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 56,491 in 25302 households, and a pop ...

Prefecture), Shimabara (

Shimabara, Nagasaki 270px, Shimabara City Hall 270px, view from Shimabara Castle 270px, view from Shimabara port of Mount Unzen 270px, The old samurai residence town Shimabara is a city located in Nagasaki Prefecture, Kyushu, Japan. , the city had an estimated p ...

), Taira (

Unzen, Nagasaki file:Fugendake 02 Pyroplastic flow area.JPG, 270px, Fugendake Pyroplastic flow area file:Unzen obama town1.JPG, 270px, Obama Onsen is a Cities of Japan, city located in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 40,831 i ...

), Nagasu (

Nagasu, Kumamoto 290px, Nagasu Town Hall 290px, Nagasu port is a town located in Tamana District, Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan., the town had an estimated population of 15,307 in 7437 households, and a population density of 790 persons per km2. The total area of ...

), Kumamoto (

Kumamoto, Kumamoto is the capital city of Kumamoto Prefecture on the island of Kyushu, Japan. , the city has an estimated population of 738,907 and a population density of 1,893 people per km2. The total area is 390.32 km2. had a population of 1,461,000, ...

), Miike ( Omuta, Fukuoka), Kuchinotsu (

Minamishimabara, Nagasaki 270px, Ruins of Hara Castle is a city in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 41,028 in 18378 households, and a population density of 240 people per km2. The total area of the city is . Geography Minamishimabar ...

), and Oniike (

Amakusa, Kumamoto is a city located in Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 72,243 in 36029 households, and a population density of 110 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Geography Amakusa covers the majority of t ...

). Five

ferry A ferry is a boat or ship that transports passengers, and occasionally vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A small passenger ferry with multiple stops, like those in Venice, Italy, is sometimes referred to as a water taxi or water bus ...

routes cross the Ariake Sea. Various species of fauna, including

mudskipper Mudskippers are any of the 23 extant species of amphibious fish from the subfamily Oxudercinae of the goby family (biology), family Oxudercidae. They are known for their unusual body shapes, preferences for semiaquatic habitats, limited terrestria ...

s, pen shells (''Atrina pectinata''), and

fiddler crab The fiddler crab or calling crab can be one of the hundred species of semiterrestrial marine crabs in the family Ocypodidae. These crabs are well known for their extreme sexual dimorphism, where the male crabs have a major claw significantly l ...

s, live in the Ariake Sea. In autumn, the ''

Suaeda __NOTOC__ ''Suaeda'' is a genus of plants also known as seepweeds and sea-blites. Most species are confined to saline or alkaline soil habitats, such as coastal salt-flats and tidal wetlands. Many species have thick, succulent leaves, a character ...

halophyte A halophyte is a salt-tolerant plant that grows in soil or waters of high salinity, coming into contact with saline water through its roots or by salt spray, such as in saline semi-deserts, mangrove swamps, marshes and sloughs, and seashores. ...

''shichimenso'' (''

Suaeda japonica __NOTOC__ ''Suaeda'' is a genus of plants also known as seepweeds and sea-blites. Most species are confined to saline or alkaline soil habitats, such as coastal salt-flats and tidal wetlands. Many species have thick, succulent leaves, a character ...

'') grows along the shore. The Ariake Sea has an extensive network of

tidal flats Mudflats or mud flats, also known as tidal flats or, in Ireland, slob or slobs, are coastal wetlands that form in intertidal areas where sediments have been deposited by tides or rivers. A global analysis published in 2019 suggested that tidal ...

, which are replenished with

volcanic ash Volcanic ash consists of fragments of rock, mineral crystals, and volcanic glass, produced during volcanic eruptions and measuring less than 2 mm (0.079 inches) in diameter. The term volcanic ash is also often loosely used to r ...

carried from

Mount Aso or Aso Volcano is the largest active volcano in Japan and among the largest in the world. Common use relates often only to the somma volcano in the centre of Aso Caldera. It stands in Aso Kujū National Park in Kumamoto Prefecture, on the i ...

and

Mount Kujū , located on the border of Kokonoe and Taketa in Ōita Prefecture, Japan, is a stratovolcano in Kyushu Island, Japan, with a summit elevation of . It is one of the 100 Famous Japanese Mountains. It is part of the Aso-Kujū National Park. S ...

to the sea by the

Chikugo River The flows through Kumamoto, Ōita, Fukuoka and Saga prefectures in Japan. With a total length of , it is the longest river on Kyūshū. It flows from Mount Aso and empties into the Ariake Sea. It is also nicknamed "Tsukushi Jirō". The upp ...

. In addition to being used for fishing, every year around the end of May, the flats at Kashima serve as the venue for the Gatalympics, a novelty sports event.

Mount Unzen is an active volcanic group of several overlapping stratovolcanoes, near the city of Shimabara, Nagasaki on the island of Kyushu, Japan's southernmost main island. In 1792, the collapse of one of its several lava domes triggered a megatsuna ...

overlooks the Ariake Sea; the Arie River, which has its source on the volcano, flows into the Ariake Sea. The Ariake Sea is used for

aquaculture Aquaculture (less commonly spelled aquiculture), also known as aquafarming, is the controlled cultivation ("farming") of aquatic organisms such as fish, crustaceans, mollusks, algae and other organisms of value such as aquatic plants (e.g. Nelu ...

, with ''

nori Nori is a dried edible seaweed used in Japanese cuisine, usually made from species of the red algae genus ''Pyropia'', including ''P. yezoensis'' and ''Pyropia tenera, P. tenera''. It has a strong and distinctive flavor, and is generally made in ...

'' being a major product. Recent years have brought increasing pollution, with resultant

red tide A harmful algal bloom (HAB), or excessive algae growth, sometimes called a red tide in marine environments, is an algal bloom that causes negative impacts to other organisms by production of natural algae-produced toxins, water deoxygenation, ...

s. There is ongoing land reclamation, as evidenced by satellite imagery, despite government attempts to dissuade farmers from carrying out the activity.

References

External links

有明海総合研究プロジェクト
"Ariake Sea General Research Project" (Saga University, in Japanese)
有明海等環境情報・研究ネットワーク
"Environmental Information on Ariake Etc.: Research Network" (Japan Fisheries Resource Conservation Association, in Japanese) {{Coord, 32, 54, 25, N, 130, 22, 20, E, region:JP_type:waterbody_source:kolossus-dewiki, display=title Bays of Kyushu Bays of the Pacific Ocean Kyushu region Landforms of Fukuoka Prefecture Landforms of Kumamoto Prefecture Landforms of Nagasaki Prefecture Landforms of Saga Prefecture Ōmuta, Fukuoka

See also

References

External links