Japanese Militarism &
Diaoyutai (Senkaku) Island
- A Japanese Historian's View
by Kiyoshi Inoue , Professor of History department , Kyoto University , Japan
For more info , refer to his book "Senkaku Retto"

Truth of History == Not to be brain-washed

In June 2004, another Japanese professor Tadayoshi Murata of Yokohama National University, published "Senkaku Islands vs the Diaoyu Islands Dispute" (some info is here) and supports that "Since the Ming Dynasty, Chinese maps and documents of many kinds marked Diaoyu Islands, Huangwei Islands, Chiwei Islands as being lying within the territory of China". His 2nd book in 2013: "Origin of Japan's territorial issues - Official documents do not reflect the Truth".

The island did not appear in the Map of Great Japan in 1876 drew by Japan's General Staff Office of the Ministry of Army . Japan's claim of its purported "discovery in 1884" of the Diaoyu Islands contradicts with the navigation map in its own 1783 historical document Sankoku Tsuran Zusetsu published by prominent Japanese military scholar Hayashi Shihei clearly stating the island a part of China . The inconvenient Truth behind the Diaoyu/Senkaku islands . What does the view of some Japanese scholars tell us ? . Small islands – Big problem: Senkaku/Diaoyu

Japanese Professor Murata said, "We tend to take the opinion of the government, political parties and media as being the correct views and accept them readily; however, those opinions do not necessarily represent the truth. To us scholars, what is important is what is real, what is true, not the national interest; over this point, political parties and media have the same problem."

Root Cause . & the real Trouble Maker

In WWI , China, suffering as a Western colonial victim, sent 140,000 Chinese Labor Corps to help allies and served on the Western Front .2 .3 .4. About 2,000 - 20,000 Chinese had died . Their remains lie in many graveyards in Europe, each headstone marked in Chinese characters . 2 . 3 . After WWI , ignoring China , the Western colonial U.S., Britain and France transferred German concessions in China to Japan in Article 156 of Treaty of Versailles , rather than returning sovereign authority to China.

In WWII , China still suffered as a Western colonial victim. More than half of China was also brutally colonized by Japan. To China, the WWII had actually lasted 14 years, and suffered the longest and the deepest from Japan's aggression, with the lost of 20-30 million Chinese lives . After WWII , due to Cold War , colonial U.S. again ignored China and all other Asian countries brutally victimized by Japan. The San Fransisco Peace Treaty with Japan in 1951 thus became an unprecedented BIG sell-out of ALL victimized Asian countries by the U.S.

That is exactly why, unlike the Germany, Japan PM never stop honouring their 1,068 war criminals including 14 Class-A War Criminals. What if Germany denies Nazi's war crimes, refuses to apology & compensate to the victims, then Chancellor goes to a Nazi shrine, pays tribute to Hitler, adopts the Nazi's song & Swastika as the National anthem & flag, marks anniversary of Hitler's death, honors Hitler by making his birthday as a National Holiday ? ? ?

Japan has done exactly that under the cover of U.S. The forgotten Asian Holocaust.

U.S. forces periodically used the Diaoyu (Senkaku) island as an aerial bombing target. The U.S. military applied each time to the Chinese (Taiwan) government for authorization . In 1953 , after Korean War , U.S. again ignored China , arbitrarily and unilaterally "re-defined the so-called geographical boundary lines of the Ryukyu Islands" to include Diaoyu (Senkaku) island .

In 1971 , U.S. again ignored China . 2 , and returned the Diaoyu (Senkaku) Island to Japan under the so-called "administrative right over Okinawa", violating directly both the Cairo Declaration and the Potsdam Declaration which specifically stated that : "Japan will also be expelled from all other territories which she has taken by violence and greed" "Japanese sovereignty shall be limited to the islands of Honshu , Hokkaido , Kyushu , Shikoku" only. Absolutely does NOT include Ryukyu (Okinawa) at all.

The Japanese Instrument of Surrender clearly stated : "We, acting by command of and on behalf of the Emperor of Japan, the Japanese Government and the Japanese Imperial General Headquarters, hereby accept the provisions in the declaration issued by the heads of the Governments of the United States, China, and Great Britain 26 July 1945 at Potsdam ..... We hereby undertake for the Emperor, the Japanese Government, and their successors to carry out the provisions of the Potsdam Declaration in good faith ....." see Picture.

The shocking truth : Not only the Diaoyu (Senkaku) Island, actually even the whole Ryukyu (Okinawa) is NOT Japanese territory !. That was exactly why Japan unhesitately offered Okinawa to US as the primary place for US army, triggered spontaneous "Koza riot" see video pictures. Now it hosts 75 % of US forces, 38 military bases, approx. 200,000 accidents and crimes involving US troops.

After years of re-arming Japan, U.S. now refers to Japan as the "Britain of the Far East". The 2006 Quadrennial Defense Report states explicitly: "China has the greatest potential to compete militarily with the U.S....absent U.S. counter-strategies." According to the U.S. Defense Planning Guidance leaked to the press in 1992, the primary aim of U.S. strategy would be to bar the rise of any competing superpower. Therefore, amidst a growing crisis :
Sept 11, 2012 China accuses Japan of stealing after purchase of group of disputed islands
Sep 23, 2012, What Crisis? U.S. Marines and Japan troops train for war
Oct 14, 2012, Japan, US troops mull drill to take island
Oct 19, 2012, China steps up isles spat with navy drills
Oct 22, 2012, Japan, US call off naval drill for fear of China's reaction.
Nov 2, 2012, Chinese ships consistently conduct Diaoyu Islands sea patrol.
Nov 7, 2012, Despite tensions, US and Japan begin a new set of war games.
Dec 4, 2012, China opposes U.S. Senate's Senkaku amendment to US-Japan Security Treaty.
Dec 13, 2012, Chinese plane joins Diaoyu Islands patrol for 1st time.
Dec 14, 2012, China submits islands claim to UN.
Dec 17, 2012, Hawk's return in Japan heartens US.
Jan 10, 2013, Japan scrambles fighters as PLA jets near disputed Diaoyu islands
Jan 15, 2013, Japan, US fighter planes in joint drill.
Jan 21, 2013, China rebukes US over "ignorant" comments on island dispute.
Feb 4, 2013, China’s Senkakus operations overseen by party task force led by Xi.
Feb 5, 2013, Japan minister: China frigate locked radar on Japan navy. China accuses Japan of 'smear' over radar incident
Apr 18, 2013 Japan war jets hit record in isles row
Apr 23, 2013 Japan PM Abe warns China of force over islands landing.
Apr 27, 2013 China military planes flew close to disputed isles.
May 9, 2013 Japan protests to China over the Ryukyu (Okinawa) sovereignty.
Apr 4, 2013 "Independence is best for Okinawa", says Japanese politician.
For details see Ryukyu Independence Movement and Free Ainu the Indigenous Peoples for the Hokkaido Independence.
May 15, 2013 Chinese general says Okinawa not Japan's.
May 15, 2013 Okinawans form group to study Independence from Japan . 2 . Okinawan independence activists named the organization after the island's original name "Ryukyu". The group, "Ryukyu Tribal Independence general study association" is led by Yasukatsu Matsushima, an economics professor at Ryukoku University.
May 27, 2013, PLA Navy's 3 fleets meet in South China Sea for rare joint exercise.
June 2, 2013 China distances itself from claim it owns Okinawa.
June 11, 2013 Japan, US stage joint island retaking drill.
June 12, 2013 In summit with Obama, Xi declares Senkakus China's 'core interest'.
June 19, 2013 War games: US and China flex military muscle.
June 25, 2013 Japan Ex-PM Hatoyama shows understanding of China's position over Senkaku. Japan Ex-PM was slammed as 'traitor' at home.
June 27, 2013 War games: Are the US and Japan sending a message to China?.
Jul 2, 2013 China to hold its 'biggest-ever' foreign navy drills with Russia.
Jul 26, 2013 China's coastguard confronts Japanese ships near disputed islands.
Aug 1, 2013 Japan deputy PM on Japan's constitutional reform: Learn from the Nazis. "The German Weimar Constitution changed, without being noticed, to the Nazi German constitution. Why don't we learn from their tactics ?" said Japan Deputy PM Aso. Japan aims to revise the "war-renouncing Article 9" to enable the Self-Defense Forces to become a full military.
Aug, 2, 2013 Japan deputy PM retracts "Why don't we learn from the Nazis".
Apr 17, 2017 Hitler's Mein Kampf returns to Japanese schools as 'Teaching Material' . Abe cabinet allows use of Hitler's autobiography 'My Struggle' in Japanese school . Abe sends offering to the controversial Yasukuni shrine that includes convicted 14 Class-A war criminals.
Oct 28, 2013 Former Chinese Commander: Shooting down drones would be act of War.
Nov 2, 2013 Japan launches 18-days military exercise.
Nov 24, 2013 China declared "Air Defense Identification Zone" over Diaoyu (Senkaku) islands. US and Japan had implemented their own "Air Defense Identification Zone". Japan, since 1969 has expanded it over the years. In fact, Japan's zone stretches all the way to China, about 135 km (only 84 miles) from China's coast at the closest point. Japan has on many occasions scrambled fighter planes to warn off China's planes when they entered the Japan's zone, as if the zone were Japan's territorial space. Both zones overlap to a large extent.
Nov 25, 2013 Japan, China in war of words over airspace.
Nov 27, 2013 U.S. flies 2 unarmed B-52 bombers over islands in defiance of Chinese air-defence zone.
Nov 27, 2013 China monitored US bombers in air defence zone . Japan is 'prime target' in China air zone: media.
Nov 28, 2013 China sends warplanes to newly declared air zone.
Nov 29, 2013 Airlines urged by US to give notice to China
Nov 30, 2013 China scrambles fighter jets towards US & Japan planes in air zone
Nov 30, 2013 US-Japan war games amid China 'zone' dispute.
Jan 29, 2014 China, Japan spar at UN over Abe's visit to war shrine which includes 14 Class-A War Criminals.
Feb 8, 2014 Japan sparks fury with UN move to immortalise letters from Kamikaze pilots. Japanese PM Abe described himself as "deeply moved" by the film "Eien no zero". The "Kamikaze team" was a suicide squad made up of mainly 16 - 17 year old kids indoctrinated in a fanatical militaristic ideology, ordered to launch suicide attacks by flying their planes directly into US war ships.
Feb 8, 2014 China exhibit reflects an escalating feud
Feb 25, 2014 China mulls days to remember defeat of Japan, Nanjing Massacre.
Mar 12, 2014 Hollywood documentary brings Diaoyu Islands truth to new audience.
Mar 24, 2014 Japan finally to hand over 50 nuclear bombs-uranium to U.S. . . . More Details.
Apr 23, 2014 Obama's assertion Japan mutual defence pact covers Diaoyus angers Beijing.
May 2, 2014 Okinawa election : Hiroshi Ayutthaya said he would announce "Okinawa Independence" and get rid of the U.S. military. Ayutthaya was the first one over the years to "Okinawa Independence" candidates for the governor election. Okinawans explore secession option . 2 . 3 . 4.
In Okinawa, talk of break from Japan turns serious. Okinawa independence movement seeks inspiration from Scotland
May 20, 2014 China, Russia start joint naval exercise in politically sensitive East China Sea.
May 22, 2014 Japan military drill simulates retaking island.
May 25,2014 China, Japan exchange barbs over action by warplanes in East China Sea . China accuses Japan of aggressive airborne acts.
Jun 7, 2014 Japan under-reports 80 nuclear bombs-plutonium to IAEA . . . More Details.
Jul 4, 2014 Japan split as Abe overturns pacifist defence policy.
Aug 3, 2014 Ryukyu Shimpo : Two Japanese legal experts i.e. Gakuen University Professor Chun wise and Kanagawa University the Japanese International Human Rights Law Institute president Hiroshi Abe : Japan's annexation of the Ryukyu Kingdom violated the international law . 2.
Aug 27, 2014 Japan PM sent prayer note to war criminal ceremony which praised their contributions to the country. The ceremony was held in front of a stone monument that honors about 1,180 Japanese war criminals, including wartime Prime Minister Hideki Tojo and the 13 other executed officials. Ceremony organizers said on their website that the tribunal was the victors' "retaliation" against the losers, and that those who were executed were "wrongfully convicted" by the allies and their honor should be restored.
Jan 1, 2015 Chinese government has setup an official Diaoyutai website.
Jan 1, 2015 Japan's Emperor speaks truth to power. The Emperor has continued his father's boycott of Yasukuni Shrine that began when 14 Class-A war criminals were secretly enshrined there in 1978.
Nov 21, 2015 US pushes Japan to start war with China.
Nov 21, 2015 "CrossTalk" Chinese wave - on the remaking of the Pacific.
Mar 18, 2016 Japan to return 331 kg of nuclear bombs-plutonium to US . . . More Details.
May 15, 2016 Okinawans demand closure of all U.S. bases.
June 9, 2016 A First: Chinese warship enters disputed islands.
June 10, 2016 A First: Russian, Chinese warships near disputed islands.
June 13, 2016
Japan, U.S., India to hold naval drill off Okinawa.
June 19, 2016 Massive protest on Okinawa opposes US military.
July 20, 2016 CrossTalk: China vs lawfare.
Aug 19, 2016 China conduct 'Confrontation' war games in sea of Japan.


The islands which are being called the Senkaku Islands in Japan and to which the Japanese Government claims title have historically been definitely China's territory. As the victor in the 1894-95 war with Ching (China), Japan seized these islands along with Taiwan and the Penghu Islands and incorporated them into Okinawa Prefecture as Japanese territory. The Cairo Declaration jointly issued by China, the United States and British during World War II stipulates the return to China by Japan of all the territory she had stolen from China during and after the Japan-Ching war, including Taiwan and Manchuria. The Potsdam Proclamation issued by the allies stipulates that Japan must carry out the clauses of the Cairo Declaration. These islands have been automatically reverted to China as its territory just as Taiwan has been automatically returned to China from the time Japan unconditionally accepted the Cairo Declaration and the Posdam Proclamation and surrendered to the allies including China. It follows that these islands are territory of the People's Republic of China, the only authority over the entire China.

But in collusion with U.S. imperialism, the reactionary rulers and militarist forces of Japan are making a clamour that the Senkaku Islands are Japanese territory in an attempt to drag the Japanese people into the militairst, anti-China whirlwind. This big whirlwind is sure to become fiercer after the return to Japan of the so-called "administrative right over Okinawa" by the U.S. armed forces on May 15 this year. We who are truly striving for the independence of the Japanese nation, Japan-China friendship and peace in Asia must smash in good time this big conspiracy of the U.S.-Japanese reactionaries. As a weapon for use in this struggle, I will give a brief account of the history of the so-called Senkaku Islands. For detailed and special historical research, please refer to my article published in the February 1972 issue of Historical Research magazine.

The so-called Senkaku Islands were recorded in Chinese documents in the middle of the 16th century at the latest, under the names of Tiaoyu Island (Diaoyu Island, Diaoyu Tai), Huangwei Yu, etc. (Yu means islet). In 1532 when the emperor of the Ming Dynasty of China bestowed the title King Chungshan of Ryukyu on Shang Ching, the ruler of Ryukyu at that time, his envoy Chen Kan travelled between Foochow and Naha. According to the Records of the Imperial Mission to Ryukyu, Chen Kan's ship set sail from the mouth of the Minkiang River on the 8th of the 5th moon, 1532, on a south-southwest course towards Keelung of Taiwan. (According to the preface of Chen Kan's Records of the Imperial Mission to Ryukyu, his trip to Ryukyu was made in the 13th year of China Ching, i.e. 1534. - Ed.) It turned eastward leaning a litter to the north on the waters off Taiwan and passed by the Tiaoyu Island (Diaoyutai) on the 10th of the 5th moon. He wrote in his diary : On the 10th, the ship sailed swiftly with a strong south wind ..... the Pingchia Hill (now called Pengchia), Tiaoyu Yu (now called Diaoyutai), Huangmao Yu (now called Huangwei Yu) and Chih Yu (now called Chihwei Yu) were left behind ..... On the evening of the 11th, the Kumi Hill (now called Kume Island) was in sight. It belongs to Ryukyu. The aborigines (Ryukyu people) on board were elated, happy to be home."

An imperial envoy was first sent to Ryukyu by the Chinese emperor in 1372. Since then, ten imperial envoys had travelled between Foochow and Naha before Chen Kan. They took the same route as Chen Kan, heading for Keelung and the Pengchia, Tiaoyu (Diaoyu), Huangwei and Chihwei Islands respectively, arriving at the Kume Island and finally entering Naha Port through the Kerama Islands. (In their return trips, they sailed northward directly from the Kume Island without passing the Tiaoyu (Diaoyu) Islands.) Therefore, if the records by the imperial envoys before Chen Kan were available, they would surely have mentioned the Tiaoyu (Diaoyu) and other islands. But regrettably those records have been lost. Those by Chen Kan are the oldest in existence. From the absence of any explanatory notes on the Tiaoyu (Diaoyu) and other islands, it can be concluded that the locations of these islands had been known long beore, and that they had not only been given Chinese names, but had also been actually used as marks on navigation routes. What is particularly important is that in his records. Chen Kan described how he started form China's territory Foochow and passed by several Chinese islands, and not until he had arrived at the Kume Island did he write: "It belongs to Ryukyu". The records pointed out specifically that lying ahead of the Kume Island was Ryukyu. This clearly shows that the islands he passed by before reaching the Kume Island were not Ryukyu territory.

Kuo Ju-lin, the imperial envoy following Chen Kan, set sail from Foochow on the 29th of the 5th moon in 1561. In his Re-engraved Records of the Imperial Mission to Ryukyu, he wrote: "On the 1st of the intercalary 5th moon, we passed by Tiaoyu (Diaoyu) and arrived at Chih Yu on the 3rd. Chih Yu is a hill bordering on Ryukyu territory. Another day of favourable wind, the Kumi Hill (Kume Island) will be in sight". In other words, what Chen Kan had written - the area beyond the Kume Island was Ryukyu territory - was presented by Kuo Ju-lin in the descrition that Chihwei Yu was the boundary between the Ryukyu region and China's territory.

It is clear from the above two documents that Ryukyu territory began from the Kume Island, whereas the Chih Yu Island and the area west of it were China's territory. But Toshio Okuhara, Associate Professor of International Law of Kokushikan University, argued that the records of Imperial Envoys Chen Kan and Kuo Ju-lin only mentioned that Ryukyu territroy began from the Kume Island and the area they covered before reaching there did not belong to Ryukyu, but that the records did not say explicitly that Chihwei Yu and the area west of it were China's territory. Therefore, he held that they were res nullius or land without owner ("Title to the Senkaku Islands and the 'Ming Pao' Article" by Okuhara, Chugoku magazine, September 1971).

This is but to explain ancient Chinese writing by interpretation of international law of the modern times. It is sheer sophistry. True, the Imperial Envoys Chen Kan and Kuo Ju-lin had not written explicitly that all were Chinese territory as far as Chih Yu. But they set sail from China's Foochow, passed through waters off Taiwan's Keelung which self-evidently is Chinese territory, and then passed by Pengchia Yu which again self-evidently is also Chinese territory; and finally upon arriving at Chihwei Yu after passing by Tiaoyu (Diaoyu) and Huangwei, they wrote that it was the boundary with Ryukyu. Moreover, when they came in sight of the Kume Island they added that it belonged to Ryukyu. From the structural coherence of such Chinese writing, is it not explicitly clear that to them, from Taiwan and Pengchia to the Taioyu (Diaoyu), Huangwei, Chihwei and other islands to the east all were Chinese territory ?

Okuhara also argued that since the records of Imperial Envoys Chen Kan and Kuo Ju-lin are the oldest in existence and since there are no similar records by imperial envoys after them, it would be valueless to take such ancient records as evidence for current issues. This also is utterly groundless and runs counter to the facts. Among the records by imperial envoys after Chen and Kuo, the Chungshan Mission Records written by the Imperial Envoy Hsu Pao-kuang in the 58th year of Kang Hsi during the Ching Dynasty (1719) cited passages from A Geographic Guide in Outline written in 1708 by Cheng Shun Tse, the most renowned scholar of Ryukyu in his time, which described the navigation route from Foochow to Naha, and when referring to the Kume Island, called it "the Chen Hill at the southwest boder of Ryukyu." Chen means garrisoning the state frontier or a village boder.

The Chungshan Mission Records also dealt in detail with the territory of Ryukyu, which comprised the 36 islands of Ryukyu including the Okinawa Island. Chihwei Yu and the area west of the it were not included. Furthmore, at the end of the explanatory notes on the Ishigaki and eight neighbouring islands of the Yaeyama Archipelago, it was written that the eight islands were "the southwestern most boundary of Ryukyu" (the Iriomote Island of the Yaeyama group among the Ryukyu Islands being the nearest to the Taioyu (Daioyu) Island).

The Chungshan Mission Records were based on writings by the great scholar Cheng Shun Tse and many other Ryukyu people as well as talks between Hsu Pao-kuang and high-ranking officials of the court of the Ryukyu king. Therefore, the above-mentioned descriptions of the Kume Island and Yaeyama Islands are actually the views not only of the Chinese but also of the Ryukyu people at that time.

Noteworthy is a description from the Records of the Imperial Mission to Ryukyu written in 1683 by Wang Chi, and imperial envoy before Hsu Pao-kuang. It said that when the ship passed beyond Chihwei Yu, a sacrificial ceremony was held to pray for safety on the sea. That area was referred to as chiao (outskirts) or kou (trough) and was clearly defined as the "boundary between China and foreigh land." Here, Okuhara's wish was met; it was explicitly written down as the boundary between China and Ryukyu.

Concluding from the above-mentioned, Ryukyu territroy began from the Kume Island and the area east of it, whereas Chihwei Yu and the Huangwei Yu and Tiaoyu Yu (Diaoyutai) to the west were Chinese territory. Obviously, this was defined in clear terms after the middle of the 16th century at the latest. There are no records or documents whatsoever by the Ryukyu side or the Japanese expressing disagreement or doubt. Moreover, there are not even legends, not to say documents about contacts of the Ryukyu people with the Tiaoyu Island (Diaoyutai) and Huangwei Yu in ancient times. Sailing from Ryukyu to the Tiaoyu Island (Diaoyutai) was particularly difficult because it was against the wind and the tide. In the middle of the 19th century, that is, the closing years of Japan's feudal period, the Ryukyu people knew the Tiaoyu Island (Diaoyutai) as Yokon (or Yokun), the Huangwei Yu as "Kubashima", and the Chihwei Yu as "Kumesekishima". This was confirmed by the records of the last Chinese imperial envoy. These in no way affect the title to these territories. The map and explanations about Ryukyu Kingdom in the book General Illustrations of Three Countries by Shihei Hayashi were completely based on the Chungshan Mission Records. The Chungshan Mission Records had found their way to Japan long ago and there was even a Japanese edition. This document was the most comprehensive and authoritative source of knowledge about Ryukyu for the Japanese people in the late Edo period.

After the Meiji Reform, in the period 1872-79 (from the 5th to the 12th year of Meiji), the Tenno government forcibly carried out the so-called "Ryukyu disposal", conquered the centuries-old Ryukyu Kingdom, and turned this former colony of the feudal lord Shimazu into a colony of the Tenno system under the name "Okinawa Prefecture". Naturally, the area of Okinawa Prefecture did not exceed the territorial limit of the former Ryukyu Kingdom.

The year when Ryukyu was turned into Okinawa Prefecture was also the year when the conflict between the Ching government of China and Japan concerning the title to these territories reached a climax. Shimazu conquered the Ryukyu in 1609 and turned it into a colonial dependency. But all the successive kings of Ryukyu pledged allegiance to the Chinese emperor as vassal, first to the emperors of the Ming Dynasty, then to those of the Ching Dynasty, and accepted titles from them. From the point of view of the Ching Dynasty of China, the whole Ryukyu was its dependency and claimed title to it against Japan's claim.

As to the dispute between Japan and the Ching government concerning the title to Ryukyu, the democratic revolutionaries of Japan at that time held that it should be decided by the Ryukyu people themselves whether Ryukyu should belong to Japan or to Ching (China), or became independent. If the Ryukyu people wanted independence, Japan should be the first to recognize and support it, and should tell the world at large the principle that big countries should not encroach on small countries. They declared that this was also the road for Japan to win full independence from the Western powers. Isn't this an idea that we should take over and develope today ?

We still leave this aside for the moment. Former U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant had in a private capacity mediated negotiations between Japan and the Ching government on the dispute. During the negotiations, the Chinese side put forward a formula to divide Ryukyu into three parts, stipulating the Amami Islands (which also belonged to the Ryukyu Kingdom before Shimazu conquered Ryukyu) as Japanese territory; Okinawa and its surrounding islands as the territory of an independent Ryukyu Kingdom; and the Miyako and Yaeyama Islands in the south as Chinese territory. As a counter-measure, the Japanese side proposed to divide Ryukyu into two parts: from the Okinawa Islands and to the north were to be Japanese territory and the Miyako-Yaeyama Islands Chinese territory. Since the Tiaoyu Islands (Diaoyutai) were beyond Ryukyu territory, they naturally were not treated as objects of negotiation either in Japan's or in the Ching government's proposal.

The Ching government finally compromised and in September 1880 the plenipotentiaries of Japan and the Ching government signed a treaty dividing Ryukyu into two parts in accordance with the Japanese formula. However, the Ching emperor refused to approved the treaty and instructed his government to continue the negotiations with Japan. The Japanese side then broke off the negotiations. In 1882 when Shinichiro Takezoe assumed office as consul in Tientsin, he resumed negotiations with the Ching government on the partition of Ryukyu, but no agreement was reached. The question was thus shelved by the Japanese and Ching governments until the Japan-Ching war broke out.

In other words, even after the Meijin Reform, until the outbreak of the Japan-Ching war, Japan had not even thought of claiming title to the Tiaoyu (Diaoyutai) and other islands or challenging Ching's title to the islands. It goes without saying that all people in the world regarded the islands as territory of Ching (China).

During that time, in 1884 (the 17th year of Meiji), Tatsushiro Koga, a native of Fukuoka Prefecture who lived in Naha since 1879 and made a living by catching and exporting marine products, found innumerable albatrosses on the Tiaoyu Island (Diaoyutai) and sent his employees there to collect albatross feathers on the island and marine products in its vicinity. His business grew from year to year. One month in 1894, the year when the Japan-Ching war broke out, he applied to the Okinawa prefectural government for a lease of land to develope his business on the Tiaoyu Island (Diaoyutai). But according to reports published in the Okinawa Mainichi Shimbun (January 1 to 9, 1910), which lauded the merits of Koga, the prefectural government did not grant his application because "it was not clear at the time whether the island belonged to the (Japanese) empire". So Koga directly applied to the minister of the interior and the minister of agriculture and commerce in Toyko. In an interview with the ministers, he gave them an account of the island and begged their approval. His request was again turned down on the grounds that the title to the Tiaoyu Island (Diaoyutai) was "uncertain".

As the (Japan-Ching) war of 27th-28th year of Meiji had ended and Taiwan was incorporated into the (Japanese) empire, and as the Senkaku Islands were proclaimed our territory by Imperial Decree No. 13 in the 29th year of Meiji (1896)", Koga immediately applied to the Okinawa prefectural governor again for a lease of land. It was only in Septermber of the same year that his request was approved. (Okinawa Mainichi Shimbun)

This is important, decisive information. Whether Koga's application to the Okinawa prefectural and central governments for a lease of the Tiaoyu Island (Diaoyutai) was made before or after the outbreak of the 1894 Japan-Ching war remains inknown, but both the prefectural and central governments had declared that title to that island was uncertain. Had the Japanese Government regarded the island as res nullius in accordance with international law, there would have been no reason why it should not have promptly approved Koga's application. The Japanese Government was not in a position to approve Koga's application precisely because the island was clearly Ching territory, not a piece of land the title to which was uncertain.

As victor in the Japan-Ching war, Japan seized the Penghu Islands, Taiwan and other islands appertaining to it from Ching. At the same time, she also regarded as Japanese territory the Tiaoyu (Diaoyu), Huangwei, Chihwei and other islands - Chinese territory linking Taiwan and Ryukyu.

Despite the allegation that the Senkaku Islands had become Japanese territory by virtue of the 1896 (29th year of Meiji) Imperial Decree No. 13 as mentioned above, the fact remains that this imperial decree was issued on March 5 with regard to the formation of various districts of Okinawa Prefecture and said nothing about incorporating the Tiaoyu (Diaoyutai) and other islands into Okinawa Prefecture. The "Views Concerning the Title to the Senkaku Islands and Sovereign Right Over the Development of Resources of the Continental Shelf" made public by the Ryukyu civil government in Semptember 1970 said that these islands "have been made Japanese territory on April 1 in the 29th year of Meiji under the administration of Ishigaki Village, Yaeyama District, Okinawa Prefecture, after the cabinet decision of January 14 of the 28th year of Meiji and on the basis of Imperial Decree No. 13". But the Imperial Decree No. 13 is just as it is described above. Probably, the Tiaoyu (Diaoyutai) and other islands were incorporated into Ishigaki Village of Yaeyama District on April 1 in accordance with an order issued by the interior minister to change the boundary of the Yaeyama District, an order based on Article 2 of the March 5 imperial decree.

How was the afore-mentioned January 14, 1895 cabinet decision worded ? And why was it enforced 10 months after the Japan-Ching war had ended, the peace treaty had become effective (May 1895) and Japan had actually taken possession of Taiwan and other islands (June) ? I have not yet completed my investigations into these problems. But one thing perfectly clear now is that, as recorded in the afore-said Okinawa Mainichi Shimbun, the Tiaoyu (Diaoyutai) and other islands were regarded as Japanese territory only after Japan had seized Taiwan and other places from Ching through the Japan-Ching war as part of a series of territories wrested from Ching.

Four years afterwards, that is, 1900, Tsune Kuroiwa, a teacher of the Okinawa Prefecture Normal School, explored the Tiaoyu Islands (Diaoyutai). He gave the Tiaoyu (Diaoyutai) and Chihwei Islands and the group of reefs between them the name of Senkaku Islands, and published his report under the title of "Exploration of the Senkaku Islands" in the 140-141 issues of the 12th volume of the Geographic Magazine. It was only since then that these islands have been called the Senkaku Islands by Japan. The group of reefs between the Tiaoyu (Diaoyutai) and Huangwei Islands was called the Pinnacle Group in British naval and navigation charts at that time, a name adopted after the contour of the group. This British name was translated as the "Sento Islands" in the navigation charts of the Japanese navy. It was also translated by some as "Senkaku Islands". It was from this enlightenment that Kuroiwa had chosen the name. As the Tiaoyu Island (Diaoyutai) also looks like a rocky hill above the sea, it was given together with the Sento Islands and the Huangwei Yu, the general name of the Senkaku Islands.

Noteworthy here is that the Senkaku Islands, named by Kuroiwa and now claimed by the Japanese Government to be Japanese territory, do not include the Chihwei Yu. Probably the Japanese Government considers that the point at issue with China lies in the Tiaoyu Island (Diaoyutai) and intends to treat the inclusion of the Chihwei Yu in Japanese territory as self-evident. Thus, it tries to get away with it by mentioning only the "Senkaku Islands" represented by the Tiaoyu Island (Diaoyutai) while keeping quiet about the Chihwei Yu.

But geographically, the Chihwei Yu is one of the islands such as the Tiaoyu Island (Diaoyutai) and the Huangwei Yu on the verge of the Chinese continental shelf. As mentioned in detail above, it was recognized as Chinese territory simultaneously with the Tiaoyu (Diaoyu) and other islands in history and this was recorded in documents. Therefore, one should not be concerned only about what Japan calls the "Senkaku Islands" but forget the Chihwei Yu.

Proceeding from the Japanese people stand of opposition to militarism, one should reject the name Senkaku Islands, which was adopted by Japanese militarism after seizing them from China, and use the only correct name in history, namely, the Tiaoyu Island (Diaoyutai) or the Tiaoyu (Diaoyu) Archipelago represented by the Tiaoyu Island (Diaoyutai) and including Chihwei Yu to the east and all the islands in between. This is the only correct name.

The history of the Tiaoyu Islands (Diaoyutai) being as the above-mentioned, it follows that the People's Republic of China alone has title to them, as pointed out at the beginning of this article. There can be no other historical conclusion !

Truth of History == Not to be brain-washed

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