Okinotorishima
Encyclopedia
is an atoll
, which in English
has multiple designations (Okinotori coral reefs, Okinotori Islands). Its original name was Parece Vela Spanish
for "looks like a sail
" (alluding to the original appearance of the reef). This name has been retained in English as well, especially to designate the geological formations of the islets.
It is located on the Palau-Kyushu Ridge in the Philippine Sea
at 20°25′N 136°05′E, 534 km (331.8 mi) SE of Oki Daitō
and 567 km (352.3 mi) WSW of Minami Iwo Jima of the Ogasawara Islands
or 1740 km (1,081.2 mi) south of Tokyo
, Japan
. The Japanese
meaning of the name is "remote bird islands" and they are sometimes referred to as "the southernmost island
s of Japan".
in 1543, certainly by Miguel López de Legazpi
in 1565, and its first recorded name was Parece Vela ("looks like a sail
" in Spanish
).
In 1789, William Douglas
arrived with British
ship Iphigenia and, in the following year, the place was named Douglas Reef (also spelt Douglass Reef). The existence of the atoll might not have been known by Japanese until 1888. In 1922 and 1925, the Japanese navy ship Manshu investigated the area. In 1931, confirming that no other countries had claimed the reefs, Japan declared it Japanese territory, placing it under the jurisdiction of the Tokyo Prefecture, classifying it as part of the Ogasawara Village
, and naming it Okinotorishima.
During 1939 and 1941 a foundation was completed for "a lighthouse and a meteorological observation site"; however, construction was interrupted by the outbreak of World War II
. After Japan's defeat, the United States
assumed sovereignty over the Ogasawara islands, and returned authority over the islands to Japan in 1968.
Between 1987 and 1993 the government of Tokyo and later the central government built steel breakwaters and concrete walls, to stop the erosion
of Okinotorishima, which today leaves only three of the five rocks that were present in 1939 above water; in 1988 the Japan Marine Science and Technology Center built a marine investigation facility which it has since maintained following typhoon damage.
On March 16, 2007, a light beacon was installed by the Japan Coast Guard
. The beacon is plotted on the hydrographic chart.
, built on the Kyushu-Palau Ridge, the westernmost part of the Izu-Bonin-Mariana Arc
System. The name "Parece Vela" has been given to the extinct back-arc basin
that lies immediately to the east (the northern half of this back-arc basin is known as the Shikoku Basin). This back-arc basin formed by seafloor spreading
between late Oligocene
and Miocene
.. The Parece Vela Basin contains the longest megamullion
in the world. The original Spanish name of the islets is normally used for the geological formations, hence, Parece Vela megamullion, Parece Vela ridge
, Parece Vela rift
or Parece Vela basin
.
The waters around the reefs are potentially rich in oil
and other resources and lies in an area of potential military significance. At high tide
, one area of the reefs is roughly the size of a twin bed and pokes just 7.4 centimeters (2.9 inches) out of the ocean. The other is the size of a small bedroom and rises about twice as high. The entire reef consists of approximately 7.8 square kilometres (3 sq mi), most of which is submerged even at low tide.
The area has three tiny individual islet
s:
Minamikojima is a completely artificial islet created in shallow water. But also the two original islets appear completely artificial today, with little if any trace of the two natural rocks that still appear on photographs of 1987. In 1925, there were still five above-water rocks, which have eroded since. A report from 1947 mentions five above-water rocks. Three smaller ones were on the west side, nearly impossible to see from seaward because of the breaking waves. The larger rocks on the southwest side and on the northeast side, possibly Kitakojima and Higashikojima, were reported to be 0.6 m (2 ft) and 0.4 m (16 inches) high, respectively. The original rocks appeared barren, obviously without any terrestrial vegetation. The current artificial dry land areas with their concrete surfaces appear unfit to support terrestrial vegetation either.
After concrete encasing, each of the islets appears as a circle with a diameter
of 60 meters (about 200 ft) on detailed satellite images, which would correspond to a land area - albeit mostly artificial - of 2827 m2 (0.7 acres) per islet, or 8482 m2 (2.1 acres) in total. In addition, there is a platform on stilts
in the shallow part of the lagoon 140 meters (460 ft) ENE of the southern islet, built by the Japan Marine Science and Technology Center in 1988, which appears as a rectangle of 100 m by 50 m (330 ft by 165 ft). The platform has a helicopter
landing pad and a large three-story building with marine investigation facility and a meteorological station.
The rocks are in the western part of a lagoon
surrounded by a submerged coral reef, over which the waves break, and that extends 4.5 km (2.8 mi) east-west and 1.7 km (1.1 mi) north-south, with an area of roughly 5 km² within the rim of the reef. The lagoon is 3 to 4.6 meters deep, but there are numerous coral heads of lesser depths throughout the area. The fringing reef of the atoll is pear-shaped in an east-west direction with its greatest width at the eastern end. There is a small boat channel into the lagoon in the southwest, about 15 meters (50 ft) wide and 6 meters (20 ft) deep, 250 meters (800 ft) southeast of the artificial islet.
village, Tokyo
. In 1939, the construction of a Naval Base was started by Japan, but suspended in 1941, at the start of the World War II
hostilities in the Pacific
.
Typhoons are constant threats to Okinotori's existence. In 1970s there were about five or six visible protrusions, but by 1989, only two were visible.
In order to prevent the island from submersion
caused by erosion
and maintain the claim to the EEZ, the Japanese government launched an embankment building project in 1987, and Higashikojima and Kitakojima were surrounded by concrete. Japan has encased the reefs with $280 million worth of concrete
and covered the smaller one with a $50 million titanium
net to shield it from debris thrown up by the ocean's waves. In fact, the Japanese government has spent over $600 million fortifying the reefs to prevent them from being completely washed away.
Furthermore, the Nippon Foundation
has drawn plans to build a lighthouse and increase the size of the reef by breeding microorganisms known as foraminifera
. Creating land using the microorganisms could take decades to a century before the island is large enough to be useful.
Currently, Japan carries out research and observation of the area, as well as repair work on the embankment.
In 2005, the government installed a Radar system
(at the cost of ¥
330 million), repaired a heliport, and placed an official address plaque saying, "1 Okinotori Island, Ogasawara Village, Tokyo" in Japanese. Fishing expeditions are also sent to support the claim of economic activity.
Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara
has talked of building a power station, despite protests by environmentalists. His government has helped fund expeditions to Okinotori by Japanese fishermen and scientists. Governor Ishihara himself toured the islands on May 20, 2005 to inspect the conservation and management efforts, went snorkeling
to see firsthand the condition of the surrounding waters, and released Japanese horse mackerel fry to show support for the local fishing industry. The islands are an intermittent rallying point for Japanese nationalists
, and, as such, a hot-button political issue in Japan.
diplomats stated during bilateral talks with Japan
that they regarded Okinotorishima as rocks, not an islet, and—while acknowledging Japan's territorial rights to Okinotorishima itself—did not acknowledge Japan's claim to an exclusive economic zone
(EEZ) stemming from Okinotorishima.
Under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea
, an island is "a naturally formed area of land, surrounded by water, which is above water at high tide". It states that "rocks which cannot sustain human habitation or economic life of their own shall have no exclusive economic zone." Japan signed the Convention in 1983; the Convention came into force in 1994–1996 for Japan.
Japan claims an EEZ over 400,000 square km (154,500 square miles) around Okinotorishima. The People's Republic of China disputes this claim, saying the area only consists of rocks and not islands. The PRC has not made a territorial claim of its own regarding Okinotorishima, but foreign policy analysts note that it wants to "investigate the surrounding seabed for submarine operations in case of military conflict involving the Republic of China
(Taiwan)."
The territory lies at a militarily strategic point, midway between Taiwan
and Guam
, where U.S. forces are based. Vessels of the PRC are believed to have been mapping the ocean's bottom over which U.S. warships might pass on their way to Taiwan. The PRC conducted four maritime surveys near the Okinotori coral reefs in 2001, two in 2002, and one in 2003. However, the number of such incidents rose to four in 2004. These incidents have drawn protests from Japan.
Jon Van Dyke, a law professor, has suggested that the situation is similar to the failed British
attempt to claim an EEZ around Rockall
, an uninhabited granite outcropping in the Atlantic Ocean
. The UK eventually dropped its claim in the 1990s when other countries objected. Dr. Dyke has further asserted that it is impossible to make "a plausible claim that Okinotorishima should be able to generate a 200 [nautical]-mile zone". Tadao Kuribayashi, another law professor, disagrees, arguing in part that rocks and reefs differ in composition and structure, and that the intent of the provision was geared toward the former.
Atoll
An atoll is a coral island that encircles a lagoon partially or completely.- Usage :The word atoll comes from the Dhivehi word atholhu OED...
, which in English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
has multiple designations (Okinotori coral reefs, Okinotori Islands). Its original name was Parece Vela Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
for "looks like a sail
Sail
A sail is any type of surface intended to move a vessel, vehicle or rotor by being placed in a wind—in essence a propulsion wing. Sails are used in sailing.-History of sails:...
" (alluding to the original appearance of the reef). This name has been retained in English as well, especially to designate the geological formations of the islets.
It is located on the Palau-Kyushu Ridge in the Philippine Sea
Philippine Sea
The Philippine Sea is a marginal sea east and north of the Philippines occupying an estimated surface area of 2 million mi² on the western part of the North Pacific Ocean...
at 20°25′N 136°05′E, 534 km (331.8 mi) SE of Oki Daitō
Oki Daito
, also spelled as Oki Daitō or Oki-Daitō, previously known as , is an uninhabited island in the Daitō island group southeast of Okinawa, Japan. It belongs to Kitadaitō Village. It was formally incorporated into Japan in 1900....
and 567 km (352.3 mi) WSW of Minami Iwo Jima of the Ogasawara Islands
Ogasawara Islands
The Bonin Islands, known in Japan as the are an archipelago of over 30 subtropical and tropical islands, some directly south of Tokyo, Japan. Administratively, they are part of Ogasawara Municipality of Ogasawara Subprefecture, Tokyo...
or 1740 km (1,081.2 mi) south of Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. The Japanese
Japanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
meaning of the name is "remote bird islands" and they are sometimes referred to as "the southernmost island
Island
An island or isle is any piece of sub-continental land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, cays or keys. An island in a river or lake may be called an eyot , or holm...
s of Japan".
History
It was possibly first sighted by the Spanish sailor Bernardo de la TorreBernardo de la Torre
Bernardo de la Torre was a Spanish sailor, primarily noted for having explored parts of the Western Pacific Ocean south of Japan in the 16th century.-Exploration:...
in 1543, certainly by Miguel López de Legazpi
Miguel López de Legazpi
Miguel López de Legazpi , also known as El Adelantado and El Viejo , was a Spanish conquistador who established one of the first European settlements in the East Indies and the Pacific Islands in 1565. He is the first Governor-General in the Philippines...
in 1565, and its first recorded name was Parece Vela ("looks like a sail
Sail
A sail is any type of surface intended to move a vessel, vehicle or rotor by being placed in a wind—in essence a propulsion wing. Sails are used in sailing.-History of sails:...
" in Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
).
In 1789, William Douglas
William Douglas
-of Douglas:*William Douglas, 1st Earl of Douglas *William Douglas, 6th Earl of Douglas *William Douglas, 8th Earl of Douglas -of Angus:*William Douglas, 2nd Earl of Angus -of Douglas:*William Douglas, 1st Earl of Douglas (c. 1327–1384)*William Douglas, 6th Earl of Douglas (1425–1440)*William...
arrived with British
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
ship Iphigenia and, in the following year, the place was named Douglas Reef (also spelt Douglass Reef). The existence of the atoll might not have been known by Japanese until 1888. In 1922 and 1925, the Japanese navy ship Manshu investigated the area. In 1931, confirming that no other countries had claimed the reefs, Japan declared it Japanese territory, placing it under the jurisdiction of the Tokyo Prefecture, classifying it as part of the Ogasawara Village
Ogasawara, Tokyo
is a village in Ogasawara Subprefecture, Tokyo, Japan, that governs the Bonin Islands, Volcano Islands and three remote islands .-Geography:...
, and naming it Okinotorishima.
During 1939 and 1941 a foundation was completed for "a lighthouse and a meteorological observation site"; however, construction was interrupted by the outbreak of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. After Japan's defeat, the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
assumed sovereignty over the Ogasawara islands, and returned authority over the islands to Japan in 1968.
Between 1987 and 1993 the government of Tokyo and later the central government built steel breakwaters and concrete walls, to stop the erosion
Erosion
Erosion is when materials are removed from the surface and changed into something else. It only works by hydraulic actions and transport of solids in the natural environment, and leads to the deposition of these materials elsewhere...
of Okinotorishima, which today leaves only three of the five rocks that were present in 1939 above water; in 1988 the Japan Marine Science and Technology Center built a marine investigation facility which it has since maintained following typhoon damage.
On March 16, 2007, a light beacon was installed by the Japan Coast Guard
Japan Coast Guard
The , formerly the Maritime Safety Agency, is the Japanese coast guard. Comprising about 12,000 personnel, it is under the oversight of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, and is responsible for the protection the coast-lines of Japan...
. The beacon is plotted on the hydrographic chart.
Geology
Geologically, the islets are an atollAtoll
An atoll is a coral island that encircles a lagoon partially or completely.- Usage :The word atoll comes from the Dhivehi word atholhu OED...
, built on the Kyushu-Palau Ridge, the westernmost part of the Izu-Bonin-Mariana Arc
Izu-Bonin-Mariana Arc
The Izu-Bonin-Mariana arc system is an outstanding example of a plate tectonic convergent boundary. IBM extends over 2800 km south from Tokyo, Japan, to beyond Guam, and includes the Izu Islands, Bonin Islands, and Mariana Islands; much more of the IBM arc system is submerged below sealevel...
System. The name "Parece Vela" has been given to the extinct back-arc basin
Back-arc basin
Back-arc basins are geologic features, submarine basins associated with island arcs and subduction zones.They are found at some convergent plate boundaries, presently concentrated in the Western Pacific ocean. Most of them result from tensional forces caused by oceanic trench rollback and the...
that lies immediately to the east (the northern half of this back-arc basin is known as the Shikoku Basin). This back-arc basin formed by seafloor spreading
Seafloor spreading
Seafloor spreading is a process that occurs at mid-ocean ridges, where new oceanic crust is formed through volcanic activity and then gradually moves away from the ridge. Seafloor spreading helps explain continental drift in the theory of plate tectonics....
between late Oligocene
Oligocene
The Oligocene is a geologic epoch of the Paleogene Period and extends from about 34 million to 23 million years before the present . As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that define the period are well identified but the exact dates of the start and end of the period are slightly...
and Miocene
Miocene
The Miocene is a geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about . The Miocene was named by Sir Charles Lyell. Its name comes from the Greek words and and means "less recent" because it has 18% fewer modern sea invertebrates than the Pliocene. The Miocene follows the Oligocene...
.. The Parece Vela Basin contains the longest megamullion
Megamullion
An oceanic core complex , or megamullion, is a seabed geologic feature that forms a long ridge perpendicular to a mid-ocean ridge. It contains smooth domes that are lined with transverse ridges like a corrugated roof...
in the world. The original Spanish name of the islets is normally used for the geological formations, hence, Parece Vela megamullion, Parece Vela ridge
Ridge
A ridge is a geological feature consisting of a chain of mountains or hills that form a continuous elevated crest for some distance. Ridges are usually termed hills or mountains as well, depending on size. There are several main types of ridges:...
, Parece Vela rift
Rift
In geology, a rift or chasm is a place where the Earth's crust and lithosphere are being pulled apart and is an example of extensional tectonics....
or Parece Vela basin
Oceanic basin
Hydrologically, an oceanic basin may be anywhere on Earth that is covered by seawater, but geologically ocean basins are large geologic basins that are below sea level...
.
The waters around the reefs are potentially rich in oil
Oil
An oil is any substance that is liquid at ambient temperatures and does not mix with water but may mix with other oils and organic solvents. This general definition includes vegetable oils, volatile essential oils, petrochemical oils, and synthetic oils....
and other resources and lies in an area of potential military significance. At high tide
High Tide
High Tide was a band formed in 1969 by Tony Hill , Simon House , Peter Pavli and Roger Hadden .-History:...
, one area of the reefs is roughly the size of a twin bed and pokes just 7.4 centimeters (2.9 inches) out of the ocean. The other is the size of a small bedroom and rises about twice as high. The entire reef consists of approximately 7.8 square kilometres (3 sq mi), most of which is submerged even at low tide.
The area has three tiny individual islet
Islet
An islet is a very small island.- Types :As suggested by its origin as islette, an Old French diminutive of "isle", use of the term implies small size, but little attention is given to drawing an upper limit on its applicability....
s:
- Higashikojima (東小島, "Eastern Islet")
- Kitakojima (北小島, "Northern Islet"), nevertheless rather in the West
- Minamikojima (南小島, "Southern Islet")
After concrete encasing, each of the islets appears as a circle with a diameter
Diameter
In geometry, a diameter of a circle is any straight line segment that passes through the center of the circle and whose endpoints are on the circle. The diameters are the longest chords of the circle...
of 60 meters (about 200 ft) on detailed satellite images, which would correspond to a land area - albeit mostly artificial - of 2827 m2 (0.7 acres) per islet, or 8482 m2 (2.1 acres) in total. In addition, there is a platform on stilts
Stilts
Stilts are poles, posts or pillars used to allow a person or structure to stand at a distance above the ground. Walking stilts are poles equipped with steps for the feet to stand on, or straps to attach them to the legs, for the purpose of walking while elevated above a normal height...
in the shallow part of the lagoon 140 meters (460 ft) ENE of the southern islet, built by the Japan Marine Science and Technology Center in 1988, which appears as a rectangle of 100 m by 50 m (330 ft by 165 ft). The platform has a helicopter
Helicopter
A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by one or more engine-driven rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forwards, backwards, and laterally...
landing pad and a large three-story building with marine investigation facility and a meteorological station.
The rocks are in the western part of a lagoon
Lagoon
A lagoon is a body of shallow sea water or brackish water separated from the sea by some form of barrier. The EU's habitat directive defines lagoons as "expanses of shallow coastal salt water, of varying salinity or water volume, wholly or partially separated from the sea by sand banks or shingle,...
surrounded by a submerged coral reef, over which the waves break, and that extends 4.5 km (2.8 mi) east-west and 1.7 km (1.1 mi) north-south, with an area of roughly 5 km² within the rim of the reef. The lagoon is 3 to 4.6 meters deep, but there are numerous coral heads of lesser depths throughout the area. The fringing reef of the atoll is pear-shaped in an east-west direction with its greatest width at the eastern end. There is a small boat channel into the lagoon in the southwest, about 15 meters (50 ft) wide and 6 meters (20 ft) deep, 250 meters (800 ft) southeast of the artificial islet.
Administration
Administratively, the island is considered part of OgasawaraOgasawara, Tokyo
is a village in Ogasawara Subprefecture, Tokyo, Japan, that governs the Bonin Islands, Volcano Islands and three remote islands .-Geography:...
village, Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
. In 1939, the construction of a Naval Base was started by Japan, but suspended in 1941, at the start of the World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
hostilities in the Pacific
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
.
Typhoons are constant threats to Okinotori's existence. In 1970s there were about five or six visible protrusions, but by 1989, only two were visible.
In order to prevent the island from submersion
Submersion
Submersion may refer to:*Being underwater or going underwater: see scuba diving or submarine or :wikt:submerge.*Submersion , in the mathematical sense.*Submersion , an episode of the television series Stargate Atlantis....
caused by erosion
Erosion
Erosion is when materials are removed from the surface and changed into something else. It only works by hydraulic actions and transport of solids in the natural environment, and leads to the deposition of these materials elsewhere...
and maintain the claim to the EEZ, the Japanese government launched an embankment building project in 1987, and Higashikojima and Kitakojima were surrounded by concrete. Japan has encased the reefs with $280 million worth of concrete
Concrete
Concrete is a composite construction material, composed of cement and other cementitious materials such as fly ash and slag cement, aggregate , water and chemical admixtures.The word concrete comes from the Latin word...
and covered the smaller one with a $50 million titanium
Titanium
Titanium is a chemical element with the symbol Ti and atomic number 22. It has a low density and is a strong, lustrous, corrosion-resistant transition metal with a silver color....
net to shield it from debris thrown up by the ocean's waves. In fact, the Japanese government has spent over $600 million fortifying the reefs to prevent them from being completely washed away.
Furthermore, the Nippon Foundation
Nippon Foundation
is a private, non-profit grant-making organization. It was established in 1962 by Ryoichi Sasakawa, the late statesman and businessman who, following World War II, was accused, albeit not convicted, of class A war crimes...
has drawn plans to build a lighthouse and increase the size of the reef by breeding microorganisms known as foraminifera
Foraminifera
The Foraminifera , or forams for short, are a large group of amoeboid protists which are among the commonest plankton species. They have reticulating pseudopods, fine strands of cytoplasm that branch and merge to form a dynamic net...
. Creating land using the microorganisms could take decades to a century before the island is large enough to be useful.
Currently, Japan carries out research and observation of the area, as well as repair work on the embankment.
In 2005, the government installed a Radar system
Radar
Radar is an object-detection system which uses radio waves to determine the range, altitude, direction, or speed of objects. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The radar dish or antenna transmits pulses of radio...
(at the cost of ¥
Japanese yen
The is the official currency of Japan. It is the third most traded currency in the foreign exchange market after the United States dollar and the euro. It is also widely used as a reserve currency after the U.S. dollar, the euro and the pound sterling...
330 million), repaired a heliport, and placed an official address plaque saying, "1 Okinotori Island, Ogasawara Village, Tokyo" in Japanese. Fishing expeditions are also sent to support the claim of economic activity.
Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara
Shintaro Ishihara
is a Japanese author, actor, politician and the governor of Tokyo since 1999.- Early life and artistic career :Shintarō was born in Suma-ku, Kobe. His father Kiyoshi was an employee, later a general manager, of a shipping company. Shintarō grew up in Zushi...
has talked of building a power station, despite protests by environmentalists. His government has helped fund expeditions to Okinotori by Japanese fishermen and scientists. Governor Ishihara himself toured the islands on May 20, 2005 to inspect the conservation and management efforts, went snorkeling
Snorkeling
Snorkeling is the practice of swimming on or through a body of water while equipped with a diving mask, a shaped tube called a snorkel, and usually swimfins. In cooler waters, a wetsuit may also be worn...
to see firsthand the condition of the surrounding waters, and released Japanese horse mackerel fry to show support for the local fishing industry. The islands are an intermittent rallying point for Japanese nationalists
Japanese nationalism
encompasses a broad range of ideas and sentiments harbored by the Japanese people over the last two centuries regarding their native country, its cultural nature, political form and historical destiny...
, and, as such, a hot-button political issue in Japan.
EEZ Dispute
On 22 April 2004, ChinesePeople's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
diplomats stated during bilateral talks with Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
that they regarded Okinotorishima as rocks, not an islet, and—while acknowledging Japan's territorial rights to Okinotorishima itself—did not acknowledge Japan's claim to an exclusive economic zone
Exclusive Economic Zone
Under the law of the sea, an exclusive economic zone is a seazone over which a state has special rights over the exploration and use of marine resources, including production of energy from water and wind. It stretches from the seaward edge of the state's territorial sea out to 200 nautical...
(EEZ) stemming from Okinotorishima.
Under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea
United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea
The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea , also called the Law of the Sea Convention or the Law of the Sea treaty, is the international agreement that resulted from the third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea , which took place from 1973 through 1982...
, an island is "a naturally formed area of land, surrounded by water, which is above water at high tide". It states that "rocks which cannot sustain human habitation or economic life of their own shall have no exclusive economic zone." Japan signed the Convention in 1983; the Convention came into force in 1994–1996 for Japan.
Japan claims an EEZ over 400,000 square km (154,500 square miles) around Okinotorishima. The People's Republic of China disputes this claim, saying the area only consists of rocks and not islands. The PRC has not made a territorial claim of its own regarding Okinotorishima, but foreign policy analysts note that it wants to "investigate the surrounding seabed for submarine operations in case of military conflict involving the Republic of China
Republic of China
The Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan , is a unitary sovereign state located in East Asia. Originally based in mainland China, the Republic of China currently governs the island of Taiwan , which forms over 99% of its current territory, as well as Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu and other minor...
(Taiwan)."
The territory lies at a militarily strategic point, midway between Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
and Guam
Guam
Guam is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States located in the western Pacific Ocean. It is one of five U.S. territories with an established civilian government. Guam is listed as one of 16 Non-Self-Governing Territories by the Special Committee on Decolonization of the United...
, where U.S. forces are based. Vessels of the PRC are believed to have been mapping the ocean's bottom over which U.S. warships might pass on their way to Taiwan. The PRC conducted four maritime surveys near the Okinotori coral reefs in 2001, two in 2002, and one in 2003. However, the number of such incidents rose to four in 2004. These incidents have drawn protests from Japan.
Jon Van Dyke, a law professor, has suggested that the situation is similar to the failed British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
attempt to claim an EEZ around Rockall
Rockall
Rockall is an extremely small, uninhabited, remote rocky islet in the North Atlantic Ocean. It gives its name to one of the sea areas named in the shipping forecast provided by the British Meteorological Office....
, an uninhabited granite outcropping in the Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
. The UK eventually dropped its claim in the 1990s when other countries objected. Dr. Dyke has further asserted that it is impossible to make "a plausible claim that Okinotorishima should be able to generate a 200 [nautical]-mile zone". Tadao Kuribayashi, another law professor, disagrees, arguing in part that rocks and reefs differ in composition and structure, and that the intent of the provision was geared toward the former.
See also
- Foreign relations of Japan: Disputed territories
- Scarborough ShoalScarborough ShoalScarborough Shoal or Scarborough Reef , more correctly described as a group of islands and reefs in an atoll shape than a shoal, is located between the Macclesfield Bank and Luzon, Philippines in the South China Sea. As with most of the landforms in this sea, the sovereignty of the area is disputed...
- Japanese nationalismJapanese nationalismencompasses a broad range of ideas and sentiments harbored by the Japanese people over the last two centuries regarding their native country, its cultural nature, political form and historical destiny...
- Chinese nationalismChinese nationalismChinese nationalism , sometimes synonymous with Chinese patriotism refers to cultural, historiographical, and political theories, movements and beliefs that assert the idea of a cohesive, unified Chinese people and culture in a unified country known as China...
- Extreme points of JapanExtreme points of JapanThe extreme points of Japan include the coordinates that are farthest north, south, east and west in Japan, and the ones that are at the highest and the lowest elevations in the country. Japan's northern-most point is disputed, as both Japan and Russia have claimed Iturup, the island on which the...
- Johnson South ReefJohnson South ReefJohnson South Reef or Chigua Reef is a reef in the Spratly Islands in South China Sea controlled by the People's Republic of China. It is contiguous with Vietnam-occupied Collins Reef which lies 4 miles away northwest. Naturally above water only at low tide, but some sources say that many rocks...
- EEZ Dispute - Macclesfield BankMacclesfield BankMacclesfield Bank or Zhongsha Islands is an elongated sunken atoll of underwater reefs and shoals in the South China Sea and part of the disputed South China Sea Islands, centred around , east of the Paracel Islands. Its length exceeds southwest-northeast, with a maximal width of more than...
External links
- Page with overhead photograph of the entire atoll
- report about appearance in 1947 (under the name Parece Vela/Douglas Reef)
- Keihin Website with pictures of original rocks in 1987
- close-up photo of Higashikojima (東小島, "Eastern Islet")
- Brief article with close-up photo of the center of Higashikojima, May 2005
- page with photograph of platform
- Italian page with history in English and oblique aerial photograph of Okinotori from southwest
- detailed satellite images
- Japanese map
- Tokyo governor stirs reef dispute
- Political background
