Japan to Back Mexico With Technology and Funding to Fight Sargassum and Clean Up the Caribbean Coast

Mexico City — Japan will supply Mexico with specialized vessels, monitoring technology and financing to combat sargassum in the Mexican Caribbean and to help clean up the heavily polluted Tula River in Hidalgo, Japan’s ambassador to Mexico said.

Ambassador Honsei Kozo told the newspaper 24 Horas that the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) is working with the Mexican government on both fronts, and that seaweed remains the centerpiece of the environmental partnership.

“Sargassum is a main topic we are discussing with the Mexican government to see what measures we can take together,” Kozo said.

Boats and satellite tracking

The cooperation was announced after an August meeting between Mexican Foreign Minister Roberto Velasco Álvarez and Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi, where the two sides outlined a joint program to strengthen Mexico’s capacity to manage the seaweed that has smothered Caribbean beaches in recent years.

According to JICA, Japan will provide sargassum-collecting ships and other vessels adapted to gather the macroalgae offshore before it reaches the sand, along with satellite monitoring technology and biological decomposition methods.

The agency will also hold training sessions and seminars in February 2027 in Cancún and Playa del Carmen to present investment projects tied to the effort.

Cleanup work on the Tula River

JICA is providing technical support for the sanitation and decontamination of the Tula River, and Mexico and Japan are in talks about extending that work to the Atoyac and Lerma Santiago rivers — the three most polluted waterways in the country.

Japan is working closely with Conagua, Mexico’s national water agency, and companies such as Takuwa Corporation to assess and propose advanced technological solutions for wastewater treatment and the ecological recovery of the Tula basin and the Endhó dam.

Kozo said environmental work is one of the areas where JICA commits the most financing in Mexico. The agency has also backed recent projects to integrate refugees and asylum seekers into the country.

Trade dominates the relationship

Even so, the ambassador said commerce remains the backbone of bilateral ties, with more than 1,600 Japanese companies operating in Mexico and generating business activity and jobs for thousands of Mexicans.

“Economic cooperation is the most important, because there are more than 1,600 Japanese companies operating in Mexico. They employ a lot of Mexicans,” he said.

Kozo noted that the two countries became global strategic partners in 2011 and that ties have deepened considerably over the past 15 years. Japan now wants to widen cooperation into areas such as the internet and artificial intelligence, he added.

He said a new project is in the works with Mexico’s Digital Transformation and Telecommunications Agency, but declined to give details because talks are still underway.

Month of Japan

The ambassador opened the Month of Japan at the National Museum of Anthropology last week. Some 39 cultural, artistic and academic events are scheduled in November in Mexico City and other cities, including traditional drum performances, calligraphy, origami and tea tastings.

“Cultural and academic exchanges are an important part of our bilateral relationship, and we want to broaden the framework of exchange between both countries,” Kozo said.