Dokdo Takeshima Island 埮郣鵛郣 Early Japanese Maps Fail to Show Dokdo as Japanese Territory

Old Japanese National Maps Part I
Defining Japan's Historical~Territorial Boundary

The historical facts of the Dokdo - Takeshima Island dispute

The following maps were gathered from various sources with the intent of making one point. Throughout the ages Japanese national maps prove Dokdo was not considered an inherent part of Japan as their Foreign Ministry now boldly claims. For reference, Oki Island has been boxed and a modern map at the top gives a geographical reference point for the viewer. From these maps, it's a logical conclusion that for centuries before the annexation of Dokdo in 1905 the Japanese considered Oki Island (錈唚) as the Northwestern boundary of Japan. For higher magnification, each map is clickable.

An 1876 color-coded national map of Japan (click)

A map of the East Sea with Oki Island (錈唚) boxed.

Matsuzaki Hanzo 1881 Map (click image)

1836 map shows the character North (暕 ) next to Oki (click)

1887 Map by Kabai Tatsunosuke excludes Dokdo (click)

An 1899 map by Nogiwa Kaoru without Dokdo (click)

An 1876 map places Dokdo under appended maps (click)

In 1893 this map by Izawa Komakichi excluded Dokdo (click)

Naimusho Chirikyoku places Dokdo under an appended map (click ).

A 1654 Map of Japan shows Oki beside Kanji character for North (暕 ) this is the Northern boundary of Japan. (click)

1891 Sagano Hikotaro's map lacked Dokdo (click)

No islands North of Oki (錈唚)were drawn on this map (click)

An 1876-Mori Kinseki map without Ulleungdo and Dokdo (click))

Oki Island (錈唚) is boxed in red on this undated map. (Click )

This 1882 color-coded map shows both Ulluengdo (鵛郣) and Dokdo (撂郣) were not red-colored and thus not part of Japan at the time.

An 1867 Japanese map with Oki Island boxed (錈唚) shows neither Ulleungdo or Dokdo Island.

The above three images are; from an 1847 map by Hironoya Mohe. The top left image is a full view of the map and the bottom left shows the upper half. On the right is a close-up of the map's border and the characters 錈唚 for Oki Island mark the North boundary of Japan. (click all pics)

The next three images above are from an 1881 map by Hirano Denkichi.; The top left image is a full view of the map and the bottom left is map's upper half. The right is a close-up of the map's border and the characters 錈唚 for Oki Island which marks the North boundary of Japan. (click)

The next three images above are from an 1881 map by Shimizu Shigeyuki; The top left image is a full view of the map and the bottom left is map's upper half. The right is a close-up of the map's border and the characters 錈唚 for Oki Island which marks the North boundary of Japan. (click)

The Japanese national map above places Oki Island along the maps border with the character 暕 ( North ) next to Oki (click)

Some images from The David Rumsey Collection: University of California, Berkeley.

On the next pagethere are more maps further illustrating the Japanese did not include Dokdo on national maps of Japan throughout the ages.