Ise Bay (伊勢湾
Ise-wan) is a bay located at the mouth of the Kiso river, between Mie and Aichi Prefectures
Ise Bay has an average depth of 19.5 metres, and a
maximum depth of 30 metres toward the centre. The mouth of the bay
is 9 kilometres wide and is connected to the smaller Mikawa Bay by two channels, the Nakayama Channel and the
Morosaki Channel. Mikawa Bay is subsequently joined to the
Ocean by the Irako Channel which ranges from 50 to 100
metres in depth.
History and Environment
derives its name from the region surrounding Ise Grand
Shrine and the city of Ise, where
the shrine stands. The flat coastal plain that stretches from
Kuwana in northern Mie Prefecture to Ise is called the Ise Plain, and this plain lies
on the western shore of Ise Bay.
Prior to the Meiji Period
consisted of most of modern Mie Prefecture.
From ancient times, Ise Bay has provided the people of the
surrounding regions with a rich abundance of natural resources as
well as providing easy transport. As a result, unique communities
developed around the bay and fishing (including Ise Ebi
, rice crops and manufacturing industries flourished.
Nagoya Port, located on the northern shore of
Ise Bay, is the largest trading port in Japan and Chubu Centrair
International Airport, built on an artificial island in the bay, was opened
in 2005 to serve the region.
After the end of the Second World War, the Ise Bay region
contributed greatly to the rapid recovery of the Japanese economy.
This rapid expansion of large industry has come at a cost, though,
with pollution affecting the water quality and landfills and the
like reducing the number of tidelands, seaweed beds and other areas
vital in preserving the habitat of local flora and fauna. Sea walls
built to protect human habitation, particularly after the 1959
, have left more
and more areas virtually cut off from the sea.
Ise Bay also has three active earthquake fault lines; Ise Bay
fault, Suzuka-oki fault and the Shiroko-noma fault.
On September 26, 1959
, the Ise-wan Typhoon
devastated the Ise Bay area. Rising tidal levels and pounding surf
collapsed banks and inundated low lying areas of the coast. 5,041
people were killed or missing, 38,921 were injured and 149,187
houses were totally or partially destroyed. Estimates place the
cost of the damage between 500 and 600 billion yen. The damage and
loss of life caused by the Ise-wan Typhoon remains the worst
recorded by a typhoon in Japan.
- Frederic, Louis (2002). "Japan Encyclopedia." Cambridge,
Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.
- Ise Bay
- Science Links Japan: Active Faults Surveys in the