The mudskipper fish is just one of hundreds of aquatic species found in Isahaya Bay on the Ariake (airy-ah-kee) Sea. In 1972, when Yamashita was a young marine biologist, he realized that a plan by the Japanese government would suck the life out of this bay. The plan: to block the sea from the bay so the land would dry up and could be planted with crops.

Yamashita launched a campaign to save the area. His effort has given new life to Japan's environmental movement, which was never very strong. Says Yamashita, now 64: "We are trying to reverse a case of humans' acting like aliens toward their own planet."

The Plan to Shut Out the Sea
Turning Isahaya Bay into dry land was first proposed in 1952 as a way to increase farmland and boost Japan's food supply after World War II. By the late 1970s, the plan was still alive, but the dikes to block the water had not yet been built.

Yamashita, a researcher at the Ariake Sea Fisheries Experiment Station, persuaded local fishermen to oppose the project. He told them how harmful blocking the bay would be to their rich fisheries. By 1982, the government halted the plan.

But modern Japan has a record of building and growing while paying little attention to its environment. Some local politicians insisted that the dikes were still needed to protect against ocean storms called typhoons. Politicians and construction companies even offered fishermen bonus money to support the plan.

Yamashita received mysterious, threatening phone calls, but he would not give up. Japan's Ministry of Agriculture offered him $268,000 to drop his campaign. He said no.

The fight is far from over. In April 1997, workers built one dike made of 293 steel plates, which cut off part of Isahaya's tidal flats from the sea. The mudskippers hunt for food in the puddles that remain. Dump trucks rumble through the dirt, preparing to build a second dike. But Isahaya has drawn the world's attention. The Japanese news media, which long ignored the battle, now reports on it. Yamashita fights on from his house above the bay. He just knows that his crusade will be lifted up by a big wave of support from environmentalists all around the planet.