Overview
- The Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry submitted a written request to Ogasawara Mayor Masaaki Shibuya to start a literature survey using existing geological records.
- Ogasawara has indicated a positive stance, with resident briefings on Chichijima and Hahajima set for March 14 and 15.
- This is the first time the ministry has sought such a survey without a local petition or assembly vote.
- If approved, it would be the fourth first-stage survey after Suttsu, Kamoenai, and Genkai, where advancement to the next phase has stalled under prefectural opposition.
- Minister Ryosei Akazawa cites scientifically favorable traits on a state-owned, uninhabited island about 1,900–1,950 kilometers from Tokyo, though its 1.5 square kilometers and remoteness pose logistical hurdles over a process expected to exceed 20 years.