Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Site 1202 was designed to study the sedimentary history of the southern Okinawa Trough and the paleoceanographic changes of the Kuroshio Current in the northwestern Pacific Ocean. This synthesis reviews some of the major results of recent studies of the southern Okinawa Trough and summarizes the principal findings of Leg 195 onboard scientists and shore-based postcruise researchers. Despite its deep penetration to 410 m below seafloor, Site 1202 records only the past approximately 68 k.y., mainly because of the high sedimentation rate at this site. The lower sections contain numerous turbidite layers with distinctive phased sources of sediment supply. The upper 130 m (0-30 ka) is free of turbidite disturbance and provides a high-resolution record for magnetic, sedimentologic, and paleoceanographic studies. Between 30 and 11 ka, when sea level was low, the sediments came from both East China and Taiwan. After 11 ka, Taiwan sources became dominant and the Kuroshio Current entered the Okinawa Trough. Seasurface temperature rose from approximately 23 degrees C during the last glacial and deglaciation interval to approximately 26 degrees C in the Holocene. The monotonous Holocene sediment provides a high-resolution, high-quality record of magnetic intensity, which may serve as a good reference for regional and global correlation.