A group of small factories in Tokyo has succeeded in taking remote video of the deep seabed off Japan's northeastern coast in a project aimed at showcasing the companies' technological capabilities.
The group has said its deep-sea research device, nicknamed the Edokko 1, captured 3-D images of shrimp and fish in the Japan Trench at a depth of some 8,000 meters.
The group's research ship returned to port Sunday in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture.
The group said video images had never before been captured at such depth. The project "has proven the technology developed by small factories has world-level competitiveness," said group leader Yukio Sugino, 64, who runs a rubber product factory in Katsushika Ward, Tokyo.
The group started the project in May 2009 and received support from Shibaura Institute of Technology and Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology.