What message is the Japanese government sending with her approach toward the Dokdo Island problem? Why does Korea still perceive Japan as a hostile country, even decades after the 1965 Treaty on Basic Relations?

For decades after WWII, westerners viewed Japan with distrust. This may have been attributed to Japan’s sneak attack on Pearl Harbor and subsequent wartime atrocities. During World War II, Western media depicted Japanese as cunning backstabbers or insatiable land grabbers. Japan’s past policy of stating something but doing the opposite made it very difficult for the nation to regain global trust.

This advertisement below left uses a cute (blue eyed?) anime girl dressed in traditional Japanese clothes. Her eyes well with tears as she worries over Japan’s future. Oddly enough three of the highlighted territories, Dokdo (竹島), the Kurils and Diaoya (Senkaku) were not inherent parts of ancient Japan.

While Japan’s right wing lunatic fringe candy-coats Takeshima Day, Koreans watch in disbelief. We must ask ourselves, do Japanese citizens really know the true history of her involvlement on Dokdo Island? Do they realize Japan’s whole case for Dokdo Takeshima is based on her military annexation of the islands while Japan colonized Korea? Perhaps, if Japanese were taught the historical reality of Takeshima Day, they might understand why Koreans are so distrustful.

From there JCI claims the Takeshima is a part of “Japan’s house” to infuriate Japanese citizens. The ugly characatures of Chinese, Russians and Koreans is an obvious attempt to demonize other Asians. At the same time, Japanese citizens are represented by a cute, innocent animae girl or passive pussy-cats. Most appalling are the accusations that Chinese, Koreans, Russians and Taiwanese are thieves and trespassers. Japanese citizens are then instructed to defend “their home” without any real background as to why these territories are really “Japanese”.

Katsuya Okada added “I can fully understand the feelings of (Koreans) who were deprived of their identity and nation. I believe we must never forget the victims,” For a brief while it seemed perhaps Korea and Japan may improve ties with each other, but it was not to be. Only weeks later, the Japanese Ministry of Education announced it had approved schoolbooks clarifying Dokdo (Takeshima) as Japanese territory.

Left: This image is from a recent Japanese schoolbook. It shows how Japan’s Education Ministry unilaterally declared a false Japan – Korea boundary and wrongly marked Dokdo (Takeshima) as part of Shimane Prefecture. (島根県) in red.

As long as the Japanese government continues to say one thing but do another, Korea and Japan will never build a lasting friendship. Relationships, personal or political are based on simple principles such as honesty, sincerity and trust. Japan cannot support the selfish territorial ambitions of Shimane Prefecture and right wing expansionists while feigning regret for the colonization of Korea.

On the left is an image of the 1901~1903 Edition of Japanese, Ultra-Right-Wing Black Dragon’s Chosun Fishing Manual, showing how Japan was encroaching into Korean waters, this record gave details into the fishing conditions in Korean East coast, Ulleungdo and Dokdo Island. ( link )

Originally ignored by the Japanese military, during the First Sino-Japanese War and Russo – Japanese War, both the Imperial Japanese Army and Imperial Japanese Navy found the Gen’yōsha’s extensive intelligence gathering network throughout East Asia to be invaluable. The Gen’yōsha network was also useful for the military in conducting sabotage activities behind enemy lines.

A native of Fukuoka, Yamaza was close to the Genyosha and shared many of its ideals. In 1904 he had been an adamant advocate of war with Russia, a position that had put him at odds with the political powerbroker and former prime minister Ito Hirofumi. Yamazo Enjiro worked in tandem with the Japanese Imperial Navy to annex Dokdo Island for the installation of naval watchtowers and telegraph facilities.

To the left a typical Japanese, Takeshima propaganda van. The crudely scrawled Korean written on the van orders Koreans to “Get out of Takeshima!!” Korean.

The vehicles are usually black, khaki or olive drab, and are decorated with the Imperial Seal, the flag of Japan and the Japanese military flag. They are primarily used to stage protests outside organizations such as the Chinese, Korean or Russian embassies, Chongryon facilities and media organizations, where propaganda (both taped and live) is broadcast through their loudspeakers.

“…The Geographical Survey Institute (GSI) is the only national organization that conducts basic survey and mapping and instructs related organizations to clarify the conditions of land in Japan and that provides the results of surveys to help improve this land….”

The map to the right by Japan’s National Geographical Survey Institute shows Dokdo island as appended to Shimane Prefecture Oki Islands which is of course not true. Japan’s MOFA is employing other government agencies to deliberately mislead their own public as well as the international community. Please click the map twice for a very large image.

Despite these obstacles, Korean researcher, Ms Yu Mi-Rim discovered two Japanese government documents that explicitly disproved Tokyo’s persistent claims to Dokdo Takeshima. The documents in question are “Ordinance No. 24 of the Prime Minister’s Office,” dated June 6, 1951, and “Ordinance No. 4 of the Ministry of Finance,” dated February 13 of the same year.

Both decrees explicitly provided that, among islands adjacent to Japan proper, Jejudo, Ulleungdo and Dokdo Takeshima were excluded from Japanese governmental and administrative authority, thus clearly affirming that those islands are not parts of Japan’s inherent territory. The fact that the Japanese government in 1951 promulgated the two ordinances in conformity with the SCAPIN-677 confirmed undisputedly that Japan did not have territorial rights over Dokdo.

However, the Japanese government still refuses to disclose other government historical records about Dokdo Takeshima Island realizing that there is further evidence Japan did not consider the islets Japanese territory post WWII. As recently as June 25th 2010, Japan’s High Court refused to release historical records regarding Dokdo Takeshima fearing they could affect Japan’s claim to the disputed islands. Below we can see some original Japanese government documents that were deliberately blacked-out to conceal related historical data.

Respondents ranked the issue even higher than the Comfort Women issue and the controversial Yasukuni Shrine. It’s also important how Koreans consider the Dokdo Takeshima Issue a historical problem rather than just a territorial dispute. This differs from Japanese who tend to think the Dokdo Takeshima problem is mostly a territorial problem over natural resources.

Modern Japan has reached a crossroads. With eroding influence in Asia and unresolved issues from her wartime and colonial eras still smoldering, Japan’s MOFA must alter her methods to suit the times or risk being frozen out of Northeast Asia. The Japanese government bears the responsibility of creating and implementing foreign policy that fosters peace and regional prosperity. However, Japan’s Minsitry of Foreign Affairs continues to appease her right wing and supports Shimane Prefecture’s lust for territory.

Today’s Japan should face up to the historical, economic, political realities of Northeast Asia and drop her claim to Dokdo Island. That would, no doubt, be a huge step in the right direction toward peaceful Korean – Japanese relations.

Below left is the chart in its entirety. There is an overall map showing Asia and Africa boxed in red. Also the Ulleungdo-Dokdo region is highlighted by a blue box. Below right is an enlarged portion that gives a close-up view of Korea’s East coast, the East Sea (Sea of Japan) and Japan’s West coast including Oki Islands.

On the map’s lower right can be seen a legend that explains the symbols on chart. On the legend the boundary of Korea is shown as “朝鮮界” and depicted as a dash and a dot (_ . _) on the map itself. On the legend, Japan’s territorial limits are labeled as “日本界” and the chart has them drawn as a dash and two dots (_.._) Note that Ulleungdo Island (竹島) and Dokdo (松島) are located within Korea’s land.

Looking at this chart’s upper left corner we can read the Kanji characters “帝國陸海測量部編纂” these characters can be translated as “The Japanese Empire’s Army and Navy Survey Department Compiled and Published. From this we know this chart represented the territorial perceptions of the Japanese government. This would mean Japan considered both Ulleungdo and Dokdo as part of Chosun (朝鮮) Korea in 1903.

The map below is an original Japanese Imperial Navy map of the East Sea (Sea of Japan) It is dated the 38th year of Meiji January 1st (1905). The map is tilted showing South~North as left~right respectively. It has been labeled in red English for reference. This chart shows how the Japanese Imperial Navy mapped, zoned and then assigned certain naval regiments to each area of the Sea of Japan to engage Russia’s Baltic Fleet. Dokdo Island would be annexed only weeks after this map was published. (click map for larger image)

The second map shows Japan’s military agenda for Liancourt Rocks (Dokdo) in the weeks prior to her annexation of Dokdo. ( see link ) This map represents a shift in Japanese policy toward not only Dokdo but Ulleungdo Island, and the nation of Korea itslelf. As this website demonstrates repeatedly, Japanese military aggression toward Korea and her annexation of Dokdo are historically inseparable.

Dokdo-Takeshima.com would like to express our thanks to the staff of Yeongnam University for donating the 1903 Japanese Map images. We would also like to congratulate Mr Ryu Seong Ha for finding this invaluable historical map, a critical piece of data which shows Japanese claims to Dokdo Takeshima Island are false.

To give the exposure Mr Lovmo’s article deserves, with his permission, we are posting it here and hope to have it translated into both Korean and Japanese. Having discovered many confidential documents, Mr Lovemo’s article remains one of the best-researched writings detailing Post WWII, U.S. Government-Military policy related to Dokdo – Takeshima.

This map of the initial occupation boundaries (right) was found among a collection of the first Instructions (SCAPINs) issued by the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers (SCAP) in September 1945.

September 27, 1945:
In an early instruction to the Government of Japan, SCAP states that Japanese should not be allowed to approach within 12 miles of Dokdo.

This map (left) accompanied SCAPIN 677, which delimited the Japanese territorial sphere to the exclusion of Dokdo, and thereby creating the ´MacArthur Line´.

This policy of excluding Dokdo from Japanese fishing areas and administrative control was sustained throughout the occupation of Japan. Again, why and by what process the General Headquarters of SCAP decided to exclude Japanese involvement with Dokdo throughout the occupation is not known for certain. It is thought that perhaps SCAP GHQ used Japanese maps published by the Imperial Army to determine that Dokdo was outside Japan´s control.

April 16, 1947
According to Korean eyewitnesses, aircraft used the Dokdo islets as a bombing target on this date. This is the earliest known account of the island used as an aerial target range.

September 16, 1947 SCAP issues Instruction #1778
Liancourt Rocks (Dokdo) is designated as a bombing range in this instruction to the Japanese government. It mentions that inhabitants of “all ports on the west coast of the island of Honshu north to the 38th parallel” in addition to Oki Island were to be notified prior to each use of the range.

The American use of Dokdo as a bombing range was part of a larger, world-wide US strategic initiative that came about with the formation of the Strategic Air Command (SAC) under the newly-minted United States Air Force in 1947. The new “Strategic Air Command Rotation Program” called for SAC bomber Groups to rotate through the Far East airbase on Okinawa on extended temporary duty deployments in an effort to keep aircrews “trained up” in operations involving forward deployments in case of war. The rotation program began at this time, and continued for decades. Dokdo was one of many islands throughout the Pacific that the US Air Force used in the late 1940s as bombing target in order to keep their pilots trained in bombing and strafing. SCAP General Headquarters evidently obliged the Air Force´s needs by officially designating the island as a bombing range.

June 8, 1948:
Twenty-one B-29s of the US Air Force´s 93d Bombardment Group flying out of Kadena Air Base on Okinawa use Dokdo as a bombing target, dropping seventy-six 1,000-pound AN-M-65 bombs, killing a number of Korean fishermen who were at the islets. U.S. occupation forces in Korea issued a press release on June 17 stating that the B-29 crews could not see the Korean fishing boats at Dokdo, and that boats were discovered only after examining photographs taken 30 minutes after the bombing. (In an interview in 2002, a former bombardier of the 93d BG stated that he had seen fishing boats through his bomb-sight while flying over the target area during a bombing run on a small island on which he dropped bombs in the summer of 1948).