Last week, Japan celebrated Umi no Hi (Marine Day). First observed as a national holiday in 1996, Marine Day marks the anniversary of the return of Emperor Meiji from a boat trip to Japan's northernmost island of Hokkaido on July 20, 1876.
It is intended, as current Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura has said, "to thank the sea for its benefits and hope for the prosperity of Japan as an island nation.''
That Japan is "an island nation" is beyond question. But is it a maritime nation?