The remote Pacific atoll where Japan is mining the deep sea

Nature · Published 19 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: Thousands of kilometers from Tokyo, a tiny, triangular coral atoll serves as a strategic outpost. Beyond its role in weather observation, Minamitorishima is now the site of a high-stakes technological trial: extracting rare-earth minerals from the ocean floor to secure the future of economic security.

Minamitorishima, also known as Marcus Island, is a highly isolated Japanese territory in the northwestern Pacific. This coral atoll is the easternmost part of Japan and the only Japanese territory located on the Pacific Plate. While the island itself is small—covering approximately 151 hectares (370 acres)—its strategic value is immense, allowing Japan to claim an exclusive economic zone spanning 428,875 square kilometers.

The island's history is marked by shifting sovereignty. Originally sighted by Spanish explorers in 1694, it was later inhabited by Japanese colonists led by Shinroku Mizutani in 1886. After being annexed by Japan in 1898, the island saw significant military use during World War II, enduring repeated U.S. Navy bombings. Following the war, the United States controlled the island until 1968, maintaining a classified LORAN-C navigation station that utilized a massive 411-meter mast.

Today, the focus has shifted from military surveillance to resource extraction. Following 2009 restrictions on rare-earth oxide exports from China, Japan began exploring its seabed. In early 2026, the deep-sea vessel Chikyū conducted a world-first trial, successfully retrieving approximately 35 tonnes of seabed mud from 6,000 meters below the surface. This mud is estimated to contain significant concentrations of rare-earth elements, with each tonne potentially yielding around 2 kg of these critical minerals.

While the Japanese government views this as a milestone for economic security, the move is not without friction. As Japan aims for full industrialization of the extraction process by 202 and 2028, environmental groups have raised concerns regarding the potential impact on deep-sea ecosystems. The government has responded by committing to collect ecological data throughout the ongoing trials.

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