The Center was founded in 1971 as a marine station that belongs to faculty of Science in University of the Ryukyus. At that time, Sesoko island was not bridged. In 1994, Tropical Biosphere Research Center was launched and station had been authorized as a one of join usage/joint research station in Japan in 2009. About 9000 researchers and students visit the station. There are three research buildings, two biological culture buildings, one boat house, and one dormitory building (38-person capacity), and 2 boats up to 19- or 4-person each. The station faces coral reefs enables researchers and students approach the corals and reefs; this is a unique feature of the station. Many researchers and students from overseas visit the station annually and collaborate with the staff. Since the station had been established, life in the coral reefs had been investigated from corals to fish (ecology, physiology, and reproductive biology). Currently, staff mainly investigate about corals from ecological viewpoints, disease in the corals, and their reproduction.
Address: 3422 Sesoko, Motobu, Okinawa 905-0227, Japan
E-mail: sesoko@acs.u-ryukyu.ac.jp
HP: https://tbc.skr.u-ryukyu.ac.jp/sesoko/en/