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.

The Cairo Declaration was a joint communique issued by the U.S., the U.K. and China and was not binding upon Japan. But as Japan accepted the Potsdam Declaration on July 26, 1945 (Soviet Russia acceded to it on August 8th) which incorporated the above stipulations of the Cairo Declaration in Article 8, it became an international instrument binding on Japan

North Africa
November 27, 1943
Department of State [USA], The Department of State Bulletin, No.232,p.393. Japan’s Foreign Relations-Basic Documents Vol.1, pp.55-56.

President Roosevelt, Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek and Prime Minister Churchill, together with their respective military and diplomatic advisers, have completed a conference in North Africa.
The following general statement was issued:

(paragraph 1)”The several military missions have agreed upon future military operations against Japan. The Three Great Allies expressed their resolve to bring unrelenting pressure against their brutal enemies by sea, Iand, and air. This pressure is already rising.

(paragraph 3)”With these objects in view the three Allies, in harmony with those of the United Nations at war with Japan, will continue to persevere in the serious and prolonged operations necessary to procure the unconditional surrender of Japan.”

Article 8 of the declaration stipulates: “..The terms of the Cairo Declaration shall be carried out and Japanese sovereignty shall be limited to the Islands of Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu, Shikoku and such minor islands as we shall determine…” The declaration itself was also a joint communique of the four Great Powers and was not binding upon Japan before it accepted unconditional surrender on August 14, 1945, and signed the instruments of surrender on September 2 that year. Thus, Japan shouldered the responsibility of abiding by the Cairo and Postam Declarations.

MEMORANDUM FOR: IMPERIAL JAPANESE GOVERNMENT
THROUGH : Central Liaison office, Tokyo
SUBJECT : Governmental and Administrative Separation of Certain Outlying Areas from Japan.

1. The Imperial Japanese Government is directed to cease exercising or attempting to exercise, governmental or administrative authority over any area outside of Japan, or over any government officials and employees or any other persons within such areas.

5. The definition of Japan contained in this directive shall also apply to all future directives, memoranda and orders from this Headquarters unless otherwise specified therein.

6. Nothing in this directive shall be construed as an indication of Allied policy relating to the ultimate determination of the minor islands referred to in Article 8 of the Potsdam Declaration.

7. The Imperial Japanese Government will prepare and submit to this Headquarters a report of all governmental agencies in Japan the functions of which pertain to areas outside of Japan as defined in this directive. Such report will include a statement of the functions, organization and
personnel of each of the agencies concerned.

8. All records of the agencies referred to in paragraph 7 above will be preserved and kept available for inspection by this Headquarters.

FOR THE SUPREME COMMANDER :
(sgd.)
H.W. ALLEN.
Colonel, AGD.
Asst Adjutant General.

As SCAPIN No.677 stipulates in Article 6 that “nothing in this directive shall be construed as an indication of Allied policy relating to the ultimate determination of the minor islands. .., the Japanese government counters that SCAPIN No.677 is not the final decision on the Japanese territory and quotes its revised form in a memorandum dated December 5, 1951, that returned to Japan the Nansei Islands lying between 30°latitude and 29°latitude, on which Japan had been directed to “cease exercising or attempting to exercise its governmental or administrative authority.” The Japanese side also cites the Amami Islands returned to Japan afterwards and alleges that Japanese residual sovereignty over the Ryukyu and Ogasahara Islands is recognized.

Therefore, some islands were returned to Japan and Japan’s residual sovereignty was recognized for some other islands, but no specific directive or memorandum was issued to retrocede Tokdo to Japan, nor a declaration made to recognize Japan’s residual sovereignty over Tokdo. Tokdo was separated from Japan by SCAPIN No.677 and in this situation, the San Francisco Peace Treaty was concluded. Since there was no positive provision in the treaty to retain Tokdo within Japanese territory, the peace treaty should be construed to have admitted Tokdo’s separation from Japan permanently.