South Paciﬁc Studies Vol. 26, No.1, 2005

Beach Litter in Amami Islands, JapanKAWAI Kei
Research Center for the Paciﬁc Islands, Kagoshima University
Korimoto 1-21-24, Kagoshima, 890-8580, Japan
Abstract
This study was performed to examine the types of beach litter in Amami Islands, Japan. The resultsof the study revealed that beach litter was more numerous in the northern parts of the islands than in thesouthern parts. Different types of litter were observed between the upper, middle, and lower levels of thebeach. Pieces of broken glass dominated the lower part of the beach, while plastic materials were mostly
found in the middle level. The upper level of the beach was mostly littered with formed plastic and plastic
bottles. The origin of the litter was identiﬁed by labels on the litter, which were mostly in Chinese andKorean languages. About 70% of beach litter written in the languages originated from foreign countries
in the spring (March - June), but the amount of beach litter from foreign countries decreased in Yoron
Islands in November. These trends regarding beach litter are discussed as the Small Island Model and the
Amani Islands Model.
Key words: Amami, beach litter, Kuroshio

Introduction
The problem of garbage is an important topic in environmental pollution. Much
garbage is discarded into the ocean and drifts ashore on the world’s beaches (MADZENA
and LASIAK 1997, WILLOUGHBY et al. 1997, ALTER et al. 1999, SOMERVILLE et al. 2003).
This garbage has adverse effects on wildlife and ruins beach scenery as well as having anegative impact on ﬁsheries, etc. Floating garbage in the sea may contain PCBs and otherchemicals, affecting birds, ﬁsh, and marine mammals that swallow the small plastic pellets
in the sea and on the beach (DA-SILVA et al. 2003). These plastic materials may releasechemicals in the stomachs of animals, resulting in death or injury.
Many small islands have no active industry, and rely on tourism making the scenery
an important factor in their economy. Dirty beaches may adversely affect tourism insuch areas. The Amami Islands are located in the southern part of Japan and include
eight islands. Kikai, Okinoerabu, and Yoron Islands belong to the Amami Islands andhave very small areas of 56.87, 40.35, and 20.49 km2, respectively (AOYAMA 2001). Eachisland has many beautiful beaches, which are very popular not only for local people but
also for tourists. However, large amounts of beach litter were observed on these islands(ex.YAMAGUCHI 1998, FUJIEDA 2002), which might adversely affect tourism and wildlife.
Therefore, the reduction of beach litter is very important for conservation of both wildlife
and the tourism-based economies of such islands.
To decrease the amount of beach litter, it is important to determine both its
distribution pattern and origin. Therefore, the purposes of this study were: 1) to determine
trends in observed beach litter in each of the Amani Islands, 2) to discuss these trends as
the Small Island Model and Amami Islands Model.
Received May 12, 2005
Accepted Aug. 2, 2005
E-mail: kkawai@cpi.kagoshima-u.ac.jp

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Materials and Methods
This study was carried out on Yoron Island from 11th to 12th March and from 11th
to 12th November 2003, on Okinoerabu Island from 31st May to 1st June 2003, andon Kikai Island from 10th to 11th June 2003 (Fig. 1). Research areas were chosen in 2
beaches each in the northern and southern parts of each island. Research was carried out
during low tide. Emerged area (from terrestrial fringe to wave break point) in each beachin Yoron and Okinoerabu Islands was divided into 3 tidal levels (upper, middle, andlower). A quadrate (10m × 10m) was ﬁxed in each level. On the other hand, a quadrate(30m × 30m) was ﬁxed in the middle intertidal level in Kikai Island.

Fig. 1. Map showing the Amami Islands and the islands examined in this study (Yoron, Kikai,
and Okinoerabu). Small arow showed research beach in each island. N and S showednorthern and southern beach, respectively.

All artiﬁcial beach litter was collected in each quadrate of Yoron and Okinoerabu
Islands and divided into 7 categories: broken glass, plastic materials, formed plastic, glass
bottles, cans, plastic bottles, and other. As formed plastic is broken easily, only pieces
larger than 3cm × 3cm × 3cm were counted.
The origins of the litter on the beaches of each of the 3 islands were determined fromthe language on the labels.

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17

Results
Type of beach litter
Beach litter was divided into 7 categories. Larger amounts of beach litter were seenin the northern parts of the islands than in the southern parts.
Plastic Materials
Plastic materials were more numerous in the southern as compared with the northernparts of the three islands. They were mainly observed at the middle and upper intertidal
levels in Okinoerabu and Yoron islands (Fig. 2). The majority of plastic materials werepieces of plastic materials and ﬁshing ﬂoats.

Fig. 2. Average numbers (/quadrate) of plastic materials in a beach in Yoron and Okinoerabu
Islands. Yoron1 and Yoron 2 indicated a research in Yoron Island in March andNovember, respectively.

Broken Glass
Broken glass was observed frequently in both northern and southern parts of all threeislands, and was mainly observed at the lower intertidal level in Okinoerabu and Yoron
Islands (Fig. 3). The pieces of glass were most likely from bottles that had ﬂoated onto thebeach and broken.
Formed plastic
Formed plastic was greater in number in the northern than in southern parts ofthe three islands. Formed plastic was observed mainly at the upper intertidal level in
Okinoerabu and Yoron islands (Fig. 4).

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Fig. 3. Average numbers (/quadrate ) of pieces of broken glass in a beach in Yoron andOkinoerabu Islands. Yoron1 and Yoron 2 indicated a research in Yoron Island in Marchand November, respectively.

Fig. 4. Average numbers (/quadrate) of pieces of formed plastic in a beach in Yoron andOkinoerabu Islands. Yoron1 and Yoron 2 indicated a research in Yoron Island in Marchand November, respectively.

Plastic bottles, Glass Bottles, Cans
Plastic bottles showed a pattern similar to that of formed plastic, with greaternumbers in northern as compared with southern parts of the three islands. They weremainly observed at the upper intertidal level in Okinoerabu and Yoron islands (Fig. 5a).

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19

Although glass bottles were seldom observed on the beach, small glass bottles(50ml) were sometimes observed (Fig. 5b). There were no differences in number of
ﬂoating glass bottles between the northern and southern parts of the islands.
Cans were sometimes observed only in the northern parts of islands (Fig. 5c).

Fig. 5. Average numbers (/quadrate) of plastic bottles, glass bottles and cans in a beach in
Yoron and Okinoerabu Islands. Yoron1 and Yoron 2 indicated a research in Yoron
Island in March and November, respectively.

Other
Electric light bulbs and ﬂuorescent lights were also observed on the beach, although
in relatively small numbers.
Origin of Beach Litter in Amami Islands
About 10% of collected beach litter in these islands was revealed the originatedcountry. About 70% of beach litter written in languages originated from foreign countries
in the spring (March - June) as determined from the labels of the litter, which were mostly
written in Chinese and Korean languages (Fig. 6), although the amounts of beach litter inYoron from foreign countries decreased in November. Products written in both languages
were mainly observed in ﬁshing ﬂoats, plastic lighters, and plastic bottles. Other countries
included Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Thailand. Products written in theselanguages were mainly observed in plastic bottles. Products made in the USA, such as
cigarette packs and plastic materials, were also observed. Products written in Japanese
were observed in plastic bottles, cans, glass bottles and plastic materials.

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Fig. 6. Frequency of beach litter related to original area which distinguished by languagein Yoron and Okinoerabu Islands. Yoron1 and Yoron 2 indicated a research in Yoron
Island in March and November, respectively.

Discussion
The two islands showed similar trends in distribution of beach litter on each typeof beach throughout the year (Figs. 2, 3, 4, 5). The origin of beach litter showed similar
trends in the three islands (Fig. 6).
Distribution Pattern of Litter on Beaches
The amounts of beach litter were greater in northern than in southern parts of allislands, although each type of beach litter showed different trends. HIGASHIYAMA-GAKUEN(1996) discussed the relationship between environmental factors (wind, wave action,and current) and distribution of beach litter. Light and ﬂoatable materials were observed
frequently in the northern parts of the islands (Figs. 4, 5a). However, relatively heavymaterials (e.g., plastic materials) (Fig. 2) were observed frequently in southern parts of
the islands. “Kuroshio” warm current passes through the Amami Islands but the slope
countercurrent makes complicate current system in this area. These currents are probably
closely related with these distribution patterns of the beach litter, however, the system
is unknown. Further studies are required to reveal the relationship with the current anddistribution of the beach litter. On the other hand, light and floatable materials wereobserved frequently at the upper intertidal level, while relatively heavy materials such as
plastics were observed frequently at the middle intertidal level. Wave action carries bothlight and relatively heavy materials to the middle level of the beach. Winds might carry

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light materials to the upper intertidal level, while relatively heavy materials would remain
at the middle intertidal level.
The two islands showed similar trends in distribution of beach litter on each typeof beach throughout the year. Therefore, the trend of observed beach litter on the beachin the Amami Islands was summarized as the Small Island Model (Fig. 7). Broken glass
was observed frequently at the lower tidal level in both northern and southern parts of allislands. Plastic materials were more numerous in the middle intertidal level in southernparts of the islands. Plastic bottles, formed plastic, and floatable plastic materials wereobserved frequently in the upper intertidal areas on the northern parts of the islands.

Fig. 7. Summary (the small Islands model) of beach litter in Yoron and Okinoerabu Islands.
Width of solid bar in three tidal levels showed amount of beach litter. The wider solid
bar is, the more beach litter was observed.

Origin of Beach Litter in Amami Islands
Products with labels written in Chinese, Korean, and English (made in Malaysia,
Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, and the USA) were observed on the beaches of
the Amami islands (Fig. 6). On the other hand, other researchers reported that productswith labels written in Chinese, Korean, English, Russian, and Arabic were observed in22South Paciﬁc Studies Vol. 26, No.1, 2005

parts of Japan lying further north than the Amami Islands (HIGASHIYAMA-GAKUEN 1996,
YAMAGUCHI 1998, FUJIEDA 1999). Therefore, the beach litter on the Amami Islands wascharacterized by a dominance of items with labels in Chinese and Korean ﬂoating in fromSoutheast Asia. The results of the present study were similar to research at Kagoshima
Japan reported previously by FUJIEDA (1999), which indicated that beach litter originatedin China and Taiwan.
Most of the beach litter originated from foreign countries. There are two possible
explanations for this trend. First, the Amami Islands are located in the southern part ofJapan and only two large Japanese cities (Naha and Naze Cities) are located nearby.
Therefore, little Japanese litter ﬂoated onto the beaches of the Amami Islands. Second, awarm current arising near the Philippines passes through the Amami Islands and ﬂows to
southern Honshu. Large amounts of beach litter from foreign countries were observed on
the Japanese coast beside the Japan Sea (THE MINISTRY of CONSTRUCTION 2000), suggestingthat garbage may ﬂoat in the Japan Sea and the East China Sea. Therefore, large amountsof beach litter originating in other countries were observed in the Amami Islands. A
few products made in the USA were also found on these islands. These might havebeen consumed in Southeast Asia or might have been taken to these islands by both the“Equatorial” and “Kuroshio” Currents.

Fig. 8. The Amami Islands Model. This was made by the result of Fg.6 and showed ﬂow of
garbage near Amami Islands. Solid arrow showed ﬂow of garbage. The wider solid bar
is, the more beach litter was observed. Striped arrow showed ﬂow of current.

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Amami Islands Model
The flow of beach litter in the Amami Islands was summarized as the Amami
Islands Model (Fig. 8). The pattern of litter on the Amami Islands was characterized by adominance of litter from foreign countries. Large amounts of garbage might be ﬂoatingin the East China Sea and might be taken to the Amami Islands by the current. Largeamounts of beach litter were also from South East Asian countries or were dumped fromfishing boats and passenger liners. The beach litter originating from Japan might haveoriginated from the islands themselves and from southern Kyushu and Ryukyu Islands.
Beach litter is transported by current, wave action, and wind, and there are seasonalchanges in all of these factors. Therefore, further studies are required to determine theseasonal changes in the patterns of litter.
Acknowledgments
This work was carried out as part of the KURCPI research project entitled “Social
homeostasis of small islands in an island-zone” and supported by Kagoshima University
Research Grants 2002 and 2003. Thanks are due to S. Fujieda for valuable advice.
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