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Pan-Okhotsk Observation Research Lab
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A research center that continuously observes environmental change in the Sea of Okhotsk and its surrounding region.
AboutAbout the lab
Watching global change from the Sea of Okhotsk.
The Pan-Okhotsk Research Center studies a region stretching from Northeast Eurasia, centered on the Sea of Okhotsk, to the western North Pacific.
In this region, the effects of warming appear sharply as a decline in seasonal sea ice zones, warming of the ocean's intermediate layer, and changes in snow and ice on land.
The center aims to clarify the role this region plays in global environmental change and to properly assess the impacts it receives from climate change.
It monitors environmental change through satellite observations, ship-based observations, and field surveys, and has built international research networks, including with Russia.
Key terms
- Sea ice
- Ice formed when seawater freezes. In the Sea of Okhotsk, it spreads in winter and melts in spring.
- Intermediate water
- Seawater that flows at depths between the ocean surface and the deep sea. It carries nutrients over long distances.
- Ice core
- A cylindrical sample of ice drilled out of a glacier or ice sheet. It traps air from the past and material that fell as precipitation.
NewsLab news
Center Director Prof. Nishioka received the 19th Commendation for Persons of Merit in Promoting Japan as a Maritime Nation
A doctoral student received the 2025 Future ECOP SEES Award from PICES (North Pacific Marine Science Organization)
A research group at the Institute of Low Temperature Science detected, in Greenland snow cover, substances released from ocean areas where sea ice forms
ResearchResearch themes
The center continuously observes environmental change on land, at sea, and in the air in and around the Sea of Okhotsk. Through satellite observations, ship-based observations, and field surveys, it has revealed the state of this region, where observations had rarely been conducted.
*Illustrative imageSea Ice in the Sea of Okhotsk and Shiretoko
Using sea ice observations from an icebreaking patrol vessel every February and observations of ice floes with drones, the center studies how sea ice deforms and melts. It also studies the mechanism of the massive phytoplankton bloom that occurs when sea ice melts in spring.
*Illustrative imageLinks Between the Sea of Okhotsk and the North Pacific
It has become clear that the circulation of intermediate water formed when sea ice forms in the Sea of Okhotsk carries iron, a nutrient, to the Oyashio region and the western North Pacific, supporting high biological productivity. The center is also developing a high-resolution material cycle model.
*Illustrative imageSystems Linking Land and Sea
The center studies how river discharge from the Kamchatka Peninsula changes the salinity of the Sea of Okhotsk, and the role of tidal rivers in eastern Hokkaido in carrying nutrients to Lake Akkeshi and Akkeshi Bay. It also addresses the relationship between climate reconstructed from peat and the changing culture of Hokkaido.
*Illustrative imageCryosphere Observations
Taking over the winter snow observations that the Institute of Low Temperature Science has continued since 1966, the center conducts continuous observations of radiation, meteorology, and aerosols. It also surveys permafrost at the summit of Mt. Yotei and carries out snow, ice, and meteorological observations and ice core drilling in Greenland.
MembersFaculty
The members of the Pan-Okhotsk Research Center consist of faculty, researchers, research support staff, and doctoral, master's, and undergraduate students.As of 2026
- ProfessorJun Nishioka
- Associate ProfessorHiroshi Kuroda
- Associate ProfessorOsamu Seki
- Associate ProfessorTakayuki Shiraiwa
- Project ProfessorNaoto Ebuchi
- LecturerTomohiro Nakamura
- Assistant ProfessorMasayuki Kawashima
- Assistant ProfessorSumito Matoba
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Report an errorAbout the images
The top and research theme images are illustrative and were not taken at the lab. They are cropped from Wikimedia Commons images. Cropped CC BY-SA images are provided under the same CC BY-SA license as the original (version shown on each line).
- Top image: “Swirls of Sea Ice approaching Hokkaido, Japan (MODIS )” MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC / Public domain (cropped)
- Sea Ice in the Sea of Okhotsk and Shiretoko: “Steller's Sea Eagles and gulls” Sammy Sam at Picasa Web Albums / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Links Between the Sea of Okhotsk and the North Pacific: “NASA satellite view of Southern Ocean phytoplankton bloom” NASA / Public domain (cropped)
- Systems Linking Land and Sea: “Kushiro-Shitsugen Kushiro-river” MaedaAkihiko / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Cryosphere Observations: “Ice core researchers from AWI drilling at the EastGRIP ice core site, Greenland 1” Helle Astrid Kjær / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Ocean and Sea Ice Dynamics Lab): “Mackenzie Bay, Antarctica ( )” NASA Goddard Space Flight Center from Greenbelt, MD, USA / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (Arctic Research Unit Lab): “Calving Front of Kangerdlugssup Glacier” NASA/Michael Studinger / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (Ocean and Climate Physics Lab): “Spring Bloom Colors the Pacific Near Hokkaido” Norman Kuring / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (Horinochi Lab): “ISS-51 Moon, Earth's limb and the thin blue atmosphere” NASA / Public domain (cropped)
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