Organic geochemical data of Lower Cretaceous shallow water sediments from two sites (865 and 866) drilled during ODP leg 143 are presented. The organic matter is mainly terrestrial at the bottom of the sedimentary column at site 865, whereas algal and/or bacterial organic matter is dominant at site 866. This is the first evidence of shallow water deposition of organic matter during the early Cretaceous in the Northwestern Pacific. The lower Aptian organic carbon-rich layers from the shallow water sediments of site 866 are geochemically similar to coeval mid-water sediments of site 463.