An enormous amount of debris has been found across a wide swath of water off western Japan following recent torrential rains that devastated the region with landslides and flooding, land ministry officials said Thursday.
The amount of debris could be the largest on record originating from heavy rains in the country and is having a negative impact on the fisheries industry.
As of Tuesday, 5,115 cubic meters of driftwood and marine debris has been retrieved by five of the ministry's regional bureaus in central, western and southwestern parts of the country since July 8.