Investigation on the Senkaku Islands and increasing needs for administrative control
September 22 – December 5, 1885 (Meiji 18)
Okinawa Prefecture conducted an investigation of the Senkaku Islands and proposed that the central government erect national markers
Against the background of the advancement of western powers, the Japanese Government decided to enhance its surveillance of peripheral islands. As with the Senkaku Islands, Okinawa Prefecture conducted various investigations and proposed that the Government take the initiative in erecting national markers. Later, Okinawa Prefecture conducted an on-site investigation and confirmed that there was no trace of the Islands being ruled by the Qing Dynasty, and then once again submitted the proposal of national markers.
In response, the Government rejected the proposal, taking into consideration the international situation and the relations with other countries.
January 13, 1890 (Meiji 23)
Okinawa Prefecture proposed that the Government incorporate the Senkaku Islands into the Japanese territory to regulate fishery operators No.2-4
The Governor of Okinawa Prefecture proposed again that the Government incorporate the Senkaku Islands into the jurisdiction of Yaeyama Island Office. The background of this was that fishing operators’ activities were growing and the authorities were attempting to regulate these activities.
Proposal to the Government for incorporation
Excerpt
Inquiry concerning the matter of the uninhabited islands; Kuba and Uotsuri Islands
…the Yaeyama Island Office has requested that jurisdiction of the islands needed to be determined due to the increasing necessity for controlling fisheries activities in recent years. On this basis, we would like to ask that these islands be placed under the jurisdiction of the Yaeyama Island Office.
Ko No.1, Teikoku Hanto Kankei Zakken (Miscellaneous Matters Related to Imperial Territory)
January 13, 1890 (Meiji 23)
[Repository] Diplomatic Archives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan
Growing activities of fishing operators around the Senkaku Islands and attempts to regulate them
Cras diam odio, commodo fermentum hendrerit vel, imperdiet vel dolor. Nulla sit amet mattis dolor. Aenean tincidunt nibh vitae consectetur convallis.
- 1889Establishment of a fishing encouraging organization, Yaeyama Island Joint Fisheries in Ishigaki Island
- Late 1889Beginning of fishing activities by a company around Kuba and the Uotsuri Islands
(followed by activities by other fishing operators) - Late 1891Provisional incorporation of the Senkaku Islands into the district of the Yaeyama Police
- 1892Proposal of Okinawa Pref. to the Imperial Navy to investigate uninhabited islands in and around Okinawa Pref.
Documents concerning the Yaeyama Islands-Kuba Island
In this document, a total of 78 people went to Kuba and Uotsuri Islands, which indicates that there were already many fishermen operating around the islands by that time.
Excerpt
A total of 78 Itoman residents went to the islands of Kuba and Uotsuri.
They consisted of 32 persons traveling on the Daiyu Maru, 26 on bonito ships, and 20 from Yonaguni.
The report was accompanied by one yakogai (green turban snail) shell harvested on said islands, for which I disbursed four Kan'ei coins. [Hanawa's personal seal]
1890 (Meiji 23)
[Repository] Okinawa Prefectural Library
Okinawa Prefectural Police Statistics (1891)
This is the annual report of the Okinawa Prefectural Police for Fiscal Year 1891. This report records that the Governor of Okinawa Prefecture issued an order to the Police in December 1891 that the Akon-kuba Islands (i.e., the Senkaku Islands) be provisionally placed under the jurisdiction of Yaeyama Islands Police Station.
Excerpt
(1891) On the same day and same month (December 11) Prefectural instruction No. 47 states that the Akon-kuba Islands are provisionally* placed under the jurisdiction of the Yaeyama Islands Police Station.
*The term “provisionally” is used here since it was before the Senkaku Islands were incorporated into Japan’s territory, and it was not possible to take it as official administrative measures.
1891 (Meiji 24)
[Repository] National Archives of Japan
November 2, 1893 (Meiji 26)
Repeated proposal from Okinawa Prefecture for erecting national markers No.5
For the necessity of regulating the growing activities of fishing operators around the Senkaku Islands, Okinawa Prefecture submitted, again, a proposal for incorporating the islands and erecting national markers.
Proposal for incorporating the islands and erecting national marker
Excerpt
Recently, however, people are coming to the islands to attempt fishery and other activities, and because these not infrequently involve legal control, I [Governor of Okinawa Prefecture] would like to erect markers of this Prefecture's jurisdiction, as I reported in detail back in 1885. I therefore urgently request your guidance, and hereby once again make a report to that effect, attaching copies of the former report and your instruction.
Ko No.111, Teikoku Hanto Kankei Zakken (Miscellaneous Matters Related to Imperial Territory)
November 2, 1893 (Meiji 26)
[Repository] Diplomatic Archives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan
