TOKYO >> Marine waste that has drifted from other Asian countries is causing problems in prefectures along the Sea of Japan. Intergovernmental negotiations held in Switzerland in August sought to establish the world’s first treaty on tackling pollution, but participants ultimately failed to reach an agreement, prompting concerns over delays in addressing plastic pollution.

At the same time, Japan itself is one of the world’s largest generators of plastic waste and is being urged to take steps to keep oceans clean.

Plastic containers and bottles have covered the western coastline of Tsushima in Nagasaki prefecture, about 31 miles from Busan, South Korea. “No matter how many times we collect them, they keep washing ashore whenever there’s heavy rain or a typhoon,” said tour guide Shoko Sak

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