Building local community awareness of horseshoe crabs in Kujukushima, Nagasaki, Japan

Abstract

Kujukushima is one of the several habitats of the horseshoe crab Tachypleus tridentatus in Japan. However, this is not widely known by local residents. This article introduces networking activities concerning horseshoe crabs in Kujukushima, Nagasaki, Japan. The Kujukushima Aquarium was reopened in July 2009. It averages about 400,000 visitors a year with approximately 30 % of them being children. It is a community-based aquarium. Previously, there was only one horseshoe crab exhibition tank, but in the newly renovated aquarium, the horseshoe crab exhibition area is much expanded. Exhibitions include living horseshoe crabs (adults, juveniles, eggs), information on their life history and ecology, and activities on community awareness building and origami (related to marine life) for children. The horseshoe crab laboratory is set up behind the main exhibition room. The Kujukushima Aquarium is collaborating with the University of Nagasaki. University students, who are studying regional policy with a focus on eco-tourism, participated in the design of the new aquarium. The collaborative work aims to build community awareness and provide quality education on the importance of horseshoe crab conservation. In the aquarium, the students participate as volunteers in the horseshoe crab exhibition and in programs for children once a month in the children's educational playroom. Former students have organized and established the Kujukushima Ramblers' Club for building community awareness and conservation of horseshoe crabs. They started up the project, the Kabuto - ganikki (Horseshoe Crab Diary), and garnered support from the Kao Corporation in 2009 and 2011 as a part of their corporate social responsibility program (CSR). Such kind of cooperation between the aquarium and the university serves as a good model to fulfill education goals for both the university and the community.