Old Japanese Maps of Korea, the East Sea and Japan Show Japan’s Historical Territorial Limits
“If Dokdo was an inherent part of the nation of Japan as her MOFA insists, why do historical Japanese maps consistently exclude Dokdo Island or show it as Korean..?”
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 (隱岐) as the Northwestern boundary of Japan. For higher magnification, each map is clickable.
Above Left: A map showing distances to Dokdo from Korean and Japanese nearest islands and landfalls. Above Right: A map showing Japan’s Oki Islands boxed in black. Historically, Japanese considered the Oki Islands as Japan’s Northwestern limit.
Assorted Japanese Historical Maps of Japan Without Dokdo – Takeshima.
Above left: An 1876 color-coded national map of Japan with with Oki Island boxed in white. Above right: Matsuzaki Hanzo’s 1881 Map showed no Japanese islands west of Oki (click images)
Above left: 1836 map shows the character North (北 ) next to Oki meaning this was the northwestern limit of Japan. Above right: 1887 Map by Kabai Tatsunosuke excludes Dokdo (click images)
Above left: An 1899 map by Nogiwa Kaoru without Dokdo and Oki Island boxed in white. Above right: In 1893 this map by Izawa Komakichi excluded Dokdo.
Above left: An 1876 map places appended maps where Dokdo would be located. Above right: Naimusho Chirikyoku also placed Dokdo under an appended map of Hokkaido, thus Dokdo was thought to outside of Japanese territory.
Above left: A 1654 Map of Japan shows Oki beside Kanji character for North (北 ) this is the Northern boundary of Japan Above right: No islands North of Oki (隱岐) were drawn on this map
Above left: 1891 Sagano Hikotaro’s map lacked Dokdo. Above right: No islands North of Oki (隱岐) were drawn on this map
Above left: Oki Island (隱岐洲) is framed in red on this map. Above right: The 1876 Mori Kinseki’s map is missing Ulleungdo or Dokdo Island.
Other Miscellaneous Japanese Historical Maps Without Dokdo – Takeshima.
Above left: An 1867 Japanese map with Oki Island boxed (隱岐) shows neither Ulleungdo or Dokdo Island. Above right: This 1882 color-coded map shows both Ulluengdo (竹島) and Dokdo (松島) were not red-colored and thus not part of Japan but rather Korean land.
Assorted Japanese Historical Maps With High Detail of the Oki Islands
“…The Oki Islands Are Consistently Shown As Japan’s Northwestern Limits On Japanese Maps…”
The following charts are Japanese historical maps with first an overview, then a general view and finally a close-up of the Oki Island region showing this region to be Japan’s territorial limit throughout the ages. The bottom two images of each group are clickable for higher detail.
Map 1. 1847 – Hinoroya Mohe
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 隱岐 for Oki Island mark the North boundary of Japan. (click bottom two pics)
Map 2. 1881 – Hirano Denkichi
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 隱岐 for Oki Island which marks the North boundary of Japan. (click bottom two images for detail of the Oki Islands.)
Map 3. 1881 – Shimizu Shigeyuki
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 隱岐 for Oki Island which marks the North boundary of Japan. (click bottom two images for detail of the Oki Islands.)
Japanese Ancient Maps Excluded Dokdo – Takeshima Part I – The Only Possible Conclusion
“Japan’s MOFA’s claims are false. Dokdo was never an inherent part of Japan…”
When studying historical maps to determine past territorial perceptions, one must first collect as many charts as possible of the region in question made by the nation that created them. From there, these maps must be examined and compared to find a dominant trend. With this in mind, there can be no other conclusion that Japan excluded Dokdo Island from her land throughout history. The islets were never part of Japan.
This page is just one a series. If the reader continues to read and observe the plethora of charts found here and on other pages it’s possible to conclude the following. Not only did Japan exclude Dokdo from her territory, she frequently labeled and drew the islets as Korean. Thus Japan’s MOFA claims of historical title to Dokdo are simply wrong. Dokdo island is not, and was not, an inherent part of Japan.
