As part of my research I joined my Professor for a trip to the southern Japanese prefecture of Miyazaki. Our objectives were to research the economic situation and the membership comprisal of the Fisheries Cooperative Associations (FCAs). We caught a plane from Tokyo and then a train for 1 hour north up the coast. From here we had several meetings and surveyed the fleet of fishing vessels at Kitaura. Following a wonderful sushi donburi lunch, we caught a small ferry out to a beautiful island called shimanoura. This Island has an amazing history and fishing here dates back over 500 years. The fishing port was very colourful with a multitude of old and new fishing vessels of all shapes and sizes. The port mainly caters for the purse seine, trawl, aquaculture and tuna long-line fisheries. I was amazed by the bird life on the island with a large species of kite (bird of prey) being the dominant species. We stayed in a quaint, little Japanese Inn which included a fabulous seafood dinner and the obligatory icy-cold beers along with the famous alcoholic beverage of the district - shouchu (form of wine made from sweet potatos). The following day we met members of the purse seine fishermens association for a 3 hr meeting and I obtained some very useful information which reflected some major differences between the fisheries of Australia and Japan. Although a short trip, it was extremely worthwhile and it was great to take in some of the sights, sounds and delicacies of Japan's beautiful countryside.