九州大学理学部附属天草臨海実験所

Amakusa Marine Biological Laboratory
Kyushu University

Originally established as a centre of research into marine biology in temperate–subtropical Japan,
the Amakusa Marine Biological Laboratory has now expanded its sphere of research interests toinclude a wide area of ecological and biodiversity studies on both aquatic and terrestrial systems. It
undertakes research and education with strong international commitment and global perspectives.

Published, Aug 2017; last update, Nov 2023

Amakusa Marine Biological Laboratory
About the AMBL
The Amakusa Marine Biological Laboratory (AMBL) is situatedon the Amakusa-Shimoshima Island (lat 32˚32'N, long 130˚02'E)
which constitutes part of the Unzen-Amakusa National Parkin western Kyushu (southernmost of the four main islands ofJapan), well known for its scenic beauty with rich temperate andsubtropical floras and faunas.
The Tomioka Peninsula where the AMBL is located isin the northwestern corner of the Amakusa-Shimoshima Islandand has unique sand spits topography (Magarizaki). The west
and the east side of the peninsula face to the Amakusa-nada,
which is part of the East China Sea, and Tomioka Bay, which islocated at the entrance of the Ariake Sea (the largest estuarine
habitat in Japan), respectively. From Tomioka we can see theUnzen volcano to the northeast.
There are different types of coastal environments
around the Tomioka peninsula: rocky shores, sandy beaches,
stony beaches, sand flats, mud flats, etc. The region has a tidal
amplitude of about 3.7 m at spring tide and relatively gentle
shore lines. Therefore, wide intertidal areas are available forresearch activities. In subtidal areas, there are also various
types of habitat, including seaweed and seagrass beds andcoral communities. Good coverage of corals and its associatedcommunities can be observed in Ushibuka, southern part ofAmakusa. Near the AMBL, especially around the Tsuji Island,dolphins (Tursiops aduncus) are observed all through a year.

Unzen

Ariake Sea
Kyushu Univ.
Ito CampusTokyoAMBL

Tsuji Is.

Amakusa-nada

Amakusa-shimoshima Is.

Coral community in Ushibuka
Magarizaki sand spit

Molluscs in Magarizaki

Postgraduates
The Amakusa Marine Biological Laboratory accepts students from any country in its MSc and PhD courses. All admitted students
will be officially registered as postgraduate students of the Kyushu University, one of the oldest and prestigious universities in Japan.
Both MSc and PhD courses are research-orientated and students are required to submit a thesis based on their original research;
MSc students are also required to take a number of classroom lectures. Generally, foreign students are admitted in the first instanceas a 'non-degree course' research student ('Kenkyu-sei' in Japanese) and subsequently required to take an entrance exam to enrol
formally into a MSc or a PhD course. Students intending to follow a PhD course should at least hold a MSc degree and be able
to demonstrate their capacity and aptitude for carrying out independent research. Enquiries must be accompanied by a full anddetailed CV with a statement of research experience and intentions. As places are limited, only those with demonstrated ability andreal interest in research can be admitted. It is also the responsibility of the prospective student to arrange an adequate funding fora postgraduate study; we cannot respond to enquiries about scholarships. If you wish to seek a Japanese Government scholarship('Monbusho' or MEXT scholarship), enquiries must be made to the Japanese consulate or embassy in the country of your nationality.
Students are reminded that it is generally not possible to give a support for their application for a Japanese Government scholarshipunless there is clear evidence of excellence (e.g. first-authored papers in journals).
Prospective students should be able to demonstrate a good command of English, as it is the language of communication inthis Laboratory: all seminars and scientific presentations are done in English only and theses and papers must be written in English.
Students from most Asian and South American countries in particular are strongly recommended to have a certificate of English
language issued by recognised UK/USA/international organizations. Students with an insufficient knowledge of English cannot be
admitted into a postgraduate study at AMBL.

Amakusa Marine Biological Laboratory
Field courses
The Amakusa Marine Biological Laboratory offers field courses in marine
biology and ecology to people at different levels of knowledge and experience. Several undergraduate and postgraduate courses lasting 6–9 days areorganised each year. In each course up to 30 students are accommodated(the capacity of our Students Laboratory and Dormitory, see Facilities). Summer field courses are particularly popular and many students come to the Lab
with a little bit of holiday anticipation. However, they soon find out that a fullyacademic, intensive field course is on offer. Course contents vary each year,
as we keep developing new course materials. Closely guided by members ofthe Lab, students are required to make ecological and behavioural observations and experiments, analyse data, write reports and make presentations(all in English) at the end of the course. Accordingly, time schedules in thesecourses are very tight and the majority of students are seen to work until earlyhours in the morning (or even all through night, though we do not encouragethat) towards the end of a course.
Foreign students at any level of study are welcome in these courses
and we make every effort to accommodate them. As the courses are in English, they can make valuable contributions to a successful completion of projectworks (students generally work in groups). When the results are presented at
the end of a course, our staff and postgraduate students join to fire questions
after questions in English and course participants are guaranteed with intellectual satisfaction (and, most understandably, exhaustion !).

Field observation at Akaiwa

Dolphin watching off Tsuji

Field collection at Magarizaki

Species identification

Plankton observation

ResearchThe issues of biodiversity is central to biological sciences. The Amakusa Marine Biological Laboratory is devoted to the study of
ecological communities on local, regional and global scales. Building on the Laboratory’s long-established strength in shallow water
marine ecological research in Japan, we are now dealing with not only marine but also freshwater and terrestrial systems, as there ismuch to be gained from comparative approaches of community ecology.
As a major centre of research in community ecology in Japan, the AMBL aims at elucidating how a multitude of species cancoexist and maintain ecological assemblages under different environmental conditions and evolutionary backgrounds.
Members of the AMBL conduct research not only in Amakusa but in other regions of Japan including Okinawa islands andnorthern Japan. Research is also undertaken in South East Asia, South Pacific, Indian Ocean and South America. We consider it
important to expand our ecological research to less well-researched areas of the world, in particular the tropics.
In this Laboratory all scientific seminars and lectures are conducted in English and students are required to present talks
and write reports/papers in English. Foreign visitors often find the congenial and open atmosphere of the Lab very refreshing and wehave students from different parts of the world.
Aquaria

Indonesia

Coral-associated communityAmakusa

Amakusa Marine Biological Laboratory
Main building

StaffDirector, Haruki TATSUTA
Associate Professor, Seiji ARAKAKI (arakaki@ambl-ku.jp)
Assistant Professor, NiNiWin (niniw@ambl-ku.jp)
Technician/Administrator, Kentaro TANAKA (amakusa@ambl-ku.jp)

Facilities
Main building: Laboratories, Seawater aquaria room, Students laboratory (capacity for40), Seminar room, Library, Specimens room, Director’s office, Administrative office,etc. Storage buildings, a pump house, a garage and a tank house in the adjacentland. Visitors can have an access to a desk and laboratory space with prior arrangement (please contact us).
Visitor’s Lodge: Situated on the hillside just above the main laboratory building, usedmainly for students participating in field courses. Four western-type dormitories andtwo Japanese-type rooms, canteen, bath/toilets; caters for a maximum of 30.
Research vessels: ‘SERIOLA’ 14 tons (capacity for 37 people), FRP hull, diesel engine(360 ps x 2), sonar, GPS, radar; ‘ISOSHIGI’ 2.2 tons (8 people), FRP hull, diesel engine (127 ps), ‘MARLIN’ 0.9 tons (8 people), FRP hull, outboat engine (50 ps)
Research vehicle: Toyota Estima
Library: Major international journals in aquatic and ecological sciences, publications andreports from Japanese and foreign organizations (ca.500), plus ca.1500 Japaneseand foreign books on related subjects.
Specimens Room: The Laboratory houses numerous biological specimens (mainly ofmarine organisms, ca.9000 items) from southern Japan.

Research vessel 'SERIOLA'

Vistor's Lodge

How to arrange visits
Enquiries should first be made to academic staffs via e-mail.

Tokyo / Osaka / Nagoya
Fukuoka(Hakata)

Fukuoka Airport

Nagasaki Airport

Kumamoto Airport

Nagasaki

Kumamoto
Kotsu Centre
Kumamoto Station

Mogi Port

Amakusa Airport
Amakusa
Hondo Bus Centre

Tomioka PortAMBLAir
BoatTrain
WalkBusInternational Hub

How to reach us
The AMBL offers you an unbeatable diversity of travelling
opportunities. Because it is located in the geographicallycomplex, western-most corner of mainland Kyushu, you canchoose from virtually any combination of modern means oftransport including ferry, bus, airplane, train and a private carfrom any major town in Japan. Accordingly, the time fromFukuoka will range from less than 1 hour by airplane to nearly
6 hours on a coach (express bus service). The best is to contact us for advice, as the availability and convenience of these
services vary greatly with seasons.

Amakusa Marine Biological Laoboratory
Kyushu University
2231 Tomioka, Reihoku, Amakusa,
Kumamoto 863-2507, Japan
http://ambl-ku.jp