[3-part series] Collaboration with Ogasawara Village Report 2025

Did you know about the connection between Sumida Aquarium and the Ogasawara? Since its opening in 2012, Sumida Aquarium has collaborated with Ogasawara Village to promote local industries, tourism, and environmental issues that coexist with animals and the environment surrounding them, as well as the World Natural Heritage Site. This column will be a series of three articles introducing this year's initiatives. In this first article, we will talk about the "Sumida Bonin Island 2025" event and the "beach clean-up activity."

■ Sumida Aquarium and the Ogasawara Islands
When asked why Sumida Aquarium is collaborating with Ogasawara Village, I would say that it is to allow people to learn about and experience the Ogasawara Islands, the only World Natural Heritage site located in Tokyo, in a familiar setting like an aquarium. However, there is actually a simpler reason.

The reason is that "the Ogasawara are beautiful."

The crystal clear blue sea known as Bonin Blue. The colorful animals that live there. The divine morning sun rising from the sea and the fiery sunset sinking into the ocean. And the lush greenery of the mountains swaying against the clear blue sky.

Anyone who has visited the Ogasawara Islands will surely agree, but the beauty of the nature there is beyond words.

When you are moved by something, you want to share it with others, right? That is the same feeling that drives us to undertake this activity.

"Scenes of the Ogasawara"

"The sea around the Ogasawara known as Bonin Blue"

"Sunrise seen from Mt. Kasayama in the Ogasawara "

Sumida Aquarium has an Ogasawara area consisting of the Ogasawara Sea Life , which recreates a beautiful underwater landscape, and Ogasawara Base , a hub for promoting nature, animals , industry, and more. The aquarium continues to promote Ogasawara as a city where you can visit anytime.

"Ogasawara Sea Life"

"Ogasawara Base"

■Event "Sumida Bonin Island" (June)
We held the "Sumida Bonin Island" event to further promote the attractions of the Ogasawara.

Sumida Bonin Island 2025 key visual

This event was first held in June last year, and this year featured an exhibition of the Ogasawara endemic species, the maiden snail and the golden snail, which are being raised and bred at Sumida Aquarium as part of ex-situ conservation efforts, as well as lectures by experts.

Maiden Giant Snail

Golden rhododendron

We also held a launch event for the picture book "Meguro, Meguro! Meguro and Bonin," which was published by Ogasawara Village and supervised by the animal care staff .

Through the quiz rally and picture book readings, we received some happy comments, such as "I now want to visit Ogasawara."

Picture book published by Ogasawara Village: "Meguro, Meguro! Meguro and Bonin"

Stamp rally

Every time I hear the stories of the many people involved with the Ogasawara Islands, I discover a new charm of Ogasawara.

Please look forward to the event next June.

■ Third annual beach cleanup activity (June)
Sumida Aquarium not only disseminates information but also carries out conservation activities to protect the nature of the Ogasawara, one of which is beach cleanup activities.

The Ogasawara Islands are the largest breeding ground for green sea turtles in Japan, but litter and obstacles on the beaches can sometimes prevent successful breeding. This time, we conducted a cleanup activity at Hatsuneura for the first time in two years.

We witnessed the reality that new trash had washed up on beaches that had been previously cleaned, and that trash that had not been removed the previous time had become tangled with trash that had washed up later, causing the beach to grow larger.

Although the island appears beautiful from a distance as a World Heritage Site, if you look closely you will realize that the problem of marine debris exists here as well.

Marine debris knows no borders or regions. Plastic waste used in the mountains flows from rivers into the ocean, and there is a lot of garbage, both Japanese and foreign.

Humans aren't the only ones who use beaches.

Sumida Aquarium will continue to spread information and engage in conservation activities in order to create a livable environment for both living animals and humans.

"Beach cleanup"

In the next "Ogasawara Village Collaboration Report 2025," we will introduce the baby green sea turtles that arrived at Sumida Aquarium in September.