:Senkaku Islands

The islands are referred to as the {{Nihongo|Senkaku Islands|{{linktext|尖|閣|諸|島}}|Senkaku-shotō|variants: {{lang|ja|尖閣群島}} Senkaku-guntōNational Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, [http://geographic.org/geographic_names/name.php?uni=-368031&fid=3261&c=japan Senkaku-guntō, Japan] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170630045719/http://geographic.org/geographic_names/name.php?uni=-368031&fid=3261&c=japan |date=June 30, 2017 }}, retrieved September 20, 2010. and {{lang|ja|尖閣列島}} Senkaku-rettōNational Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, [http://geographic.org/geographic_names/name.php?uni=-368032&fid=3261&c=japan Senkaku-rettō, Japan] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230409191958/https://geographic.org/geographic_names/name.php?uni=-368032&fid=3261&c=japan |date=April 9, 2023 }}, retrieved September 20, 2010.}} in Japanese. In mainland China, they are known as the Diaoyu Islands ({{lang-zh|s={{linktext|钓鱼|岛}}|p=Diàoyúdǎo}}) or more fully "Diaoyu Dao and its affiliated islands" ({{zh|s={{linktext|钓鱼|岛|及|其|附属|岛屿}}|p=Diàoyúdǎo jí qí fùshǔ dǎoyǔ}}),{{cite web |date=2015-08-28 |title=Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying's Remarks on the Japanese Government Opening a Link about Diaoyu Dao on the Official Cabinet Website |url=https://www.fmprc.gov.cn/mfa_eng/xwfw_665399/s2510_665401/2535_665405/t1293468.shtml |access-date=2020-09-15 |work=Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the People's Republic of China |archive-date=August 7, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200807043312/https://www.fmprc.gov.cn/mfa_eng/xwfw_665399/s2510_665401/2535_665405/t1293468.shtml |url-status=live }} while in Taiwan they are called the Diaoyutai Islands or Tiaoyutai Islands{{cite web |title=The ROC government reiterates its sovereignty over the Tiaoyutai Islands |url=https://www.mofa.gov.tw/en/News_Content.aspx?n=539A9A50A5F8AF9E&sms=37B41539382B84BA&s=BDA44D06D35803BE |access-date=10 August 2020 |website=Ministry of Foreign Affairs |quote=According to a report appearing in the Japanese newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun on January 1, 2003, the Japanese government began leasing three uninhabited islands (Kita-kojima, Minami-kojima and Uotsurishima) out of the five islets that comprise the Tiaoyutai Islands (known as the "Senkaku Islands" in Japan) in October 2002 at the rate of 22 million Japanese yen annually. The ROC's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has instructed the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in Japan to ascertain the current position of the Japanese government on this issue and to express the ROC's solemn position regarding its claim to sovereignty over the Tiaoyutai Islands. |archive-date=November 5, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201105211813/https://www.mofa.gov.tw/en/News_Content.aspx?n=539A9A50A5F8AF9E&sms=37B41539382B84BA&s=BDA44D06D35803BE |url-status=live }}{{cite web |author=Jesse Johnson |date=27 July 2020 |title=China's 100-day push near Senkaku Islands comes at unsettling time for Sino-Japanese ties |url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2020/07/27/national/china-japan-senkaku-islands/ |access-date=10 August 2020 |website=Japan Times |quote=There are few better examples that underscore Japan's complicated relationship with China than the uninhabited but strategically positioned Senkakus, which are also claimed by China, which calls them Diaoyu, as well as Taiwan, which calls them Tiaoyutai. |archive-date=July 8, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230708063309/https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2020/07/27/national/china-japan-senkaku-islands/ |url-status=live }}{{cite book |author=Harold C. Hinton |url=https://archive.org/details/chinaseaamerican0000hint/ |title=The China Sea: The American Stake in its Future |date=1980 |publisher=National Strategy Information Center |isbn=0-87855-871-3 |page=[https://archive.org/details/chinaseaamerican0000hint/page/13/ 13], [https://archive.org/details/chinaseaamerican0000hint/page/14/ 14], [https://archive.org/details/chinaseaamerican0000hint/page/25/ 25], [https://archive.org/details/chinaseaamerican0000hint/page/26/ 26] |quote=The other territorial dispute in the East China Sea is considerably more complicated and more serious. It relates to a group of eight small uninhabited islands known in China as the Tiaoyutai and in Japan as the Senkaku and claimed by Japan and both Chinas; they lie on the edge of the continental shelf about 120 miles northeast of Taiwan. |via=Internet Archive}}{{cite web |date=2008 |title=Media Reaction: Cross-Strait Talks, Taiwan-Japan Dispute, U.S. Global Influence |url=https://archive.org/details/08AITTAIPEI845/ |publisher=United States Department of State |via=Internet Archive |quote=A separate "Liberty Times" column discussed the recent dispute between Taiwan and Japan over the Tiaoyutai Islands and urged the Ma administration to seek to form an equilateral triangular relationship with the United States, Japan and China, so that no side will feel threatened of will overpower the other.}} ({{zh|t={{linktext|釣魚臺|列嶼}}|p=Diàoyútái liè yǔ}}).{{cite web |author=Ministry of Foreign Affairs Taiwan |title=the Republic of China's Sovereignty Claims over the Diaoyutai Islands and the East China Sea Peace Initiative |url=http://www.mofa.gov.tw/EnOfficial/Topics/TopicsArticleDetail/fd8c3459-b3ec-4ca6-9231-403f2920090a |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201019152749/https://www.mofa.gov.tw/EnOfficial/Topics/TopicsArticleDetail/fd8c3459-b3ec-4ca6-9231-403f2920090a |archive-date=October 19, 2020 |access-date=November 24, 2013 |work=www.mofa.gov.tw}}{{cite web |date=August 17, 2013 |title=Diaoyutai tensions stoked by arrival of China coast guard |url=http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2013/08/17/2003569884 |work=www.taipeitimes.com |access-date=November 28, 2013 |archive-date=November 16, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221116203056/https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2013/08/17/2003569884 |url-status=live }}{{cite web |date=November 24, 2013 |title=China preparing for Diaoyutai conflict: expert |url=http://www.chinapost.com.tw/china/national-news/2013/11/24/394387/China-preparing.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140125111651/http://www.chinapost.com.tw/china/national-news/2013/11/24/394387/China-preparing.htm |archive-date=25 January 2014 |work=www.chinapost.com.tw}}{{cite web |date=2013-09-05 |title=The Republic of China's Sovereignty Claims over the Diaoyutai Islands and the East China Sea Peace Initiative |url=https://www.mofa.gov.tw/News_Content.aspx?n=C641B6979A7897C0&sms=60ECE8A8F0DB165D&s=0D384DDF96769D7A |access-date=2020-09-15 |work=Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Taiwan (Taiwan) |archive-date=November 16, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221116203102/https://www.mofa.gov.tw/News_Content.aspx?n=C641B6979A7897C0&sms=60ECE8A8F0DB165D&s=0D384DDF96769D7A |url-status=live }} In Western sources, the historical English name Pinnacle Islands is occasionally still used when neutrality among the competing national claims is desirable.{{harvnb|Lai|2013|p=208}} cites Hagstrom 2005; "The islands are also called 'Pinnacle Islands' for convenience and neutrality sake by Western scholars"[https://digitalcommons.law.umaryland.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1151&context=mscas The Diaoyutaiisenkaku Islands Dispute: its History and an Analysis of the Ownership Claims of the P.R.C., R.O.C., and Japan] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230624195821/https://digitalcommons.law.umaryland.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1151&context=mscas |date=June 24, 2023 }}, Occasional Papers/Reprints Series in Contemporary Asian Studies, Nr 3 – 1999 (152), p.13[https://businessmirror.com.ph/2018/02/19/whats-in-a-name-4/ What's in a name?] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230708063312/https://businessmirror.com.ph/2018/02/19/whats-in-a-name-4/ |date=July 8, 2023 }}, BusinessMirror: "The disputed islands East China Sea are called the Senkaku Islands by Japan, Diaoyu Islands in China and the Diaoyutai Islands by the government of Taiwan. In the West, these rocks are called the Pinnacle Islands as a loose translation of the Japanese name."[http://americandiplomacy.web.unc.edu/2007/09/japans-territorial-disputes/ Japan's Territorial Disputes] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230708124433/https://americandiplomacy.web.unc.edu/2007/09/japans-territorial-disputes/ |date=July 8, 2023 }}, American Diplomacy: "The Chinese call them the Diaoyu Islands, and on foreign maps in the past they have been called the Pinnacle Islands."

In Okinawan (northern Ryukyu), the islands are known as {{Nihongo|2=魚蒲葵島|3=ʔiyukubajima}},{{Cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/47773506 |title=Okinawago jiten |date=2001-03-30 |publisher=Zaimushō Insatsukyoku |others=Kokuritsu Kokugo Kenkyūjo, 国立国語研究所 |isbn=4-17-149000-6 |location=Tōkyō |pages=549 |language=ja |oclc=47773506}} while their Yaeyama (southern Ryukyu) name is iigunkubajima.

Chinese records of these islands date back to as early as the 15th century when they were referred as Diaoyu in books such as Voyage with a Tail Wind ({{zh|t=順風相送|p=Shùnfēng Xiāngsòng}}) (1403) Title: Liang zhong hai dao zhen jing / [Xiang Da jiao zhu].Imprint: Beijing : Zhonghua shu ju : Xin hua shu dian Beijing fa xing suo fa xing, 2000 reprint edition. Contents: Shun feng xiang song—Zhi nan zheng fa. (順風相送--指南正法). {{ISBN|7-101-02025-9}}. pp96 and [http://bbs.home.news.cn/upfiles/04B5B77C.002C pp253] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110707045318/http://bbs.home.news.cn/upfiles/04B5B77C.002C |date=July 7, 2011 }}. The full text is available at [http://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/%E4%B8%A4%E7%A7%8D%E6%B5%B7%E9%81%93%E9%92%88%E7%BB%8F wikisource] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110615044828/http://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/%E4%B8%A4%E7%A7%8D%E6%B5%B7%E9%81%93%E9%92%88%E7%BB%8F |date=June 15, 2011 }}. and Record of the Imperial Envoy's Visit to Ryūkyū ({{zh|t=使琉球錄|p=Shǐ Liúqiú Lù}}) (1534).{{cn|date=August 2024}} Adopted by the Chinese Imperial Map of the Ming Dynasty, the Chinese name for the island group (Diaoyu) and the Japanese name for the main island (Uotsuri) both mean "fishing".

File:Seconde partie de la carte d'Asie contenant la Chine et partie de la Tartarie (Senkaku).jpg) drawn by Jean Baptiste Bourguignon d'Anville in 1752.]]

Historically, the Chinese had used the uninhabited islands as navigational markers in making the voyage to the Ryukyu Kingdom upon commencement of diplomatic missions to the kingdom, "resetting the compass at a particular isle in order to reach the next one".Suganuma, {{Google books|vDpEiKR2osoC|p. 49.|page=49-54}}

The first published description of the islands in Europe appears in a book imported by Isaac Titsingh in 1796. His small library of Japanese books included {{Nihongo|Sangoku Tsūran Zusetsu|三國通覧圖說|An Illustrated Description of Three Countries}} by Hayashi Shihei.WorldCat, [http://www.worldcat.org/search?q=Sangoku+Ts%C5%ABran+Zusetsu&qt=results_page Sangoku Tsūran Zusetsu] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160204210419/http://www.worldcat.org/search?q=Sangoku+Ts%C5%ABran+Zusetsu&qt=results_page |date=February 4, 2016 }}; alternate romaji [http://www.worldcat.org/search?q=Sankoku+Ts%C5%ABran+Zusetsu&qt=results_page Sankoku Tsūran Zusetsu] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181006200028/http://www.worldcat.org/search?q=Sankoku+Ts%C5%ABran+Zusetsu&qt=results_page |date=October 6, 2018 }} This text, which was published in Japan in 1785, described the Ryūkyū Kingdom.Cullen, Louis M. (2003). {{Google books|ycY_85OInSoC|A History of Japan, 1582–1941: Internal and External Worlds, p. 137.|page=137}} Hayashi followed convention in giving the islands their Chinese names in his map in the text, where he coloured them in the same pink as China.{{cite news |url=https://www.economist.com/news/christmas/21568696-behind-row-over-bunch-pacific-rocks-lies-sad-magical-history-okinawa-narrative |title=The Senkaku or Diaoyu Islands: Narrative of an empty space |newspaper=The Economist |date=December 22, 2012 |issue=Christmas Specials 2012 |publisher=Economist Group |location=London |issn=0013-0613 |access-date=February 26, 2014 |author= |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140226002234/http://www.economist.com/news/christmas/21568696-behind-row-over-bunch-pacific-rocks-lies-sad-magical-history-okinawa-narrative |archive-date=February 26, 2014 |url-status=live |df=mdy-all}}

In 1832, the Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland supported the posthumous abridged publication of Titsingh's French translation.Klaproth, Julius. (1832). {{Google books|lsoNAAAAIAAJ|San kokf tsou ran to sets, ou Aperçu général des trois royaumes, pp. 169–180.|page=i}}

The name, "Pinnacle Isles" was first used by James Colnett, who charted them during his 1789–1791 voyage in the Argonaut."Pinnacle Rock in Latitude 29°40{{prime}} and Longitude 132° E. of London... This Navigation is no ways dangereous were you sure of your Latitude and to make Pinnicle Isle". James Colnett, The Journal ... aboard the Argonaut from April 26, 1789 to Nov. 3, 1791, ed. with introd. and notes by F. W. Howay, Toronto, Champlain Society Vol. 26, 1940, p. 47. William Robert Broughton sailed past them in November 1797 during his voyage of discovery to the North Pacific in HMS Providence, and referred to Diaoyu Island/Uotsuri Island as "Peaks Island".William Robert Broughton, William Robert Broughton's Voyage of Discovery to the North Pacific, 1795–1798, edited by Andrew David; with an introduction by Barry Gough, Ashgate for the Hakluyt Society, Farnham, England; Burlington, VT, 2010, p. 202. Reference was made to the islands in Edward Belcher's 1848 account of the voyages of HMS Sammarang.Suganuma, Unryu. (2001). {{Google books|vDpEiKR2osoC|Sovereign Rights and Territorial Space in Sino-Japanese Relations, |pages=87, 89–90}} Captain Belcher remarked that "the names assigned in this region have been too hastily admitted."Belcher, Edward. (1848). {{Google books|jotKAAAAYAAJ|Narrative of the Voyage of H.M.S. Samarang, Vol. I, pp. 315.|page=315}}; Belcher, {{Google books|PiAEAAAAQAAJ|Vol. II, pp. 572–574.|page=572}} Belcher reported anchoring off Pinnacle Island in March 1845.Belcher, {{Google books|jotKAAAAYAAJ|Vol. I, |pages=316–318.}}; excerpt at p. 317, "On the 16th, we endeavoured to obtain observations on Tia-usu; a landing was effected, but the absence of sun prevented our obtaining satisfactory observations, and bad weather coming on hastened our departure. This group, comprehending hô-pîng-san (和平山, "Peace Island", Uotsuri-shima), Pinnacle Rocks, and Tias-usu (Kuba-shima), form a triangle, of which the hypothenuse, or distance between Hoa-pin-san and Tia-usu, extends about fourteen miles, and that between Hoa-pinsan and the Southern Pinnacle, about two miles."

In the 1870s and 1880s, the English name Pinnacle Islands was used by the British navy for the rocks adjacent to the largest island Uotsuri-shima / Diaoyu Dao (then called {{Lang-zh|t=和平嶼|poj=hô-pîng-sū|labels=no|l=Peace Island in Hokkien}}); Kuba-shima / Huangwei Yu (then called Ti-a-usu); and Taishō-tō / Chiwei Yu.Suganuma, {{Google books|vDpEiKR2osoC|p. 90.|page=90}}; Jarrad, Frederick W. (1873). {{Google books|LvoGAAAAQAAJ|The China Sea Directory, Vol. IV, pp. 141–142.|page=141}}

A Japanese navy record issued in 1886 first started to identify the islets using equivalents of the Chinese and English terms employed by the British. The name "Senkaku Retto" is not found in any Japanese historical document before 1900 (the term "Senkaku Gunto" began being used in the late 19th century), and first appeared in print in a geography journal published in 1900. It was derived from a translation of the English name Pinnacle Islands into a Sinicized Japanese term "Sento Shoto" (as opposed to "Senkaku Retto", i.e., the term used by the Japanese today), which has the same meaning.Suganuma, {{Google books|vDpEiKR2osoC|p. 91.|page=91-4}}

The collective use of the name "Diaoyutai" to denote the entire group began with the advent of the controversy in the 1970s.Koo, Min Gyo (2009). [https://books.google.com/books?id=8Ac9hLAES18C&q=advent&pg=PA103 Disputes and Maritime Regime Building in East Asia, p. 103 n2.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230708063314/https://books.google.com/books?id=8Ac9hLAES18C&q=advent&pg=PA103 |date=July 8, 2023 }} citing Park (1973) "Oil under Troubled Waters: The Northeast Asia Seabed Controversy", 14 HILJ (Harvard International Law Journal) 212, 248–249; also Park, Choon-Ho (1972). Continental Shelf Issues in the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea. Kingston, Rhode Island: Law of the Sea Institute, pp. 1–64.

File:Senkaku bonito.jpg

File:Txu-oclc-6900707-ng51-15.jpg

File:Txu-oclc-6900707-ng51-16.jpg

As the uninhabited islets were historically used as maritime navigational markers, they were never subjected to administrative control other than the recording of the geographical positions on maps, descriptions in official records of Chinese missions to the Ryukyu Kingdom, etc.

The Japanese central government incorporated the islands into Okinawa Prefecture in January 1895 while still fighting China in the First Sino-Japanese War. Around 1900, Japanese entrepreneur {{Nihongo|Koga Tatsushirō|古賀 辰四郎}} constructed a bonito fish processing plant on the islands, employing over 200 workers. The business failed around 1940 and the islands have remained deserted ever since. In the 1970s, Koga Tatsushirō's son Zenji Koga and Zenji's wife Hanako sold four islets to the Kurihara family of Saitama Prefecture. Kunioki Kurihara{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-19540469 |title=BBC News – Japan confirms disputed islands purchase plan |work=bbc.co.uk |year=2012 |quote=Kunioki Kurihara |access-date=September 10, 2012 |archive-date=September 10, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120910195752/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-19540469 |url-status=live }} owned Uotsuri, Kita-Kojima, and Minami-Kojima. Kunioki's sister owned Kuba.Ito, Masami, "[http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20120517x2.html Owner OK with metro bid to buy disputed Senkaku Islands]", Japan Times, May 18, 2012, pp. 1–2

The islands came under US government occupation in 1945 after the surrender of Japan ended World War II.Kaneko, Maya, (Kyodo News) "[http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20101208f2.html Ishigaki fishermen fret over Senkaku encroachment] {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20121227220804/http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20101208f2.html |date=December 27, 2012 }}", Japan Times, December 8, 2010, p. 3. In 1969, the United Nations Economic Commission for Asia and the Far East (ECAFE) identified potential oil and gas reserves in the vicinity of the Senkaku Islands.{{cite web |url=http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/war/senkaku.htm |publisher=Globalsecurity.org |title=Senkaku/Diaoyutai Islands |access-date=May 25, 2005 |archive-date=July 5, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180705004128/https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/war/senkaku.htm |url-status=live }} In 1971, the Okinawa Reversion Treaty passed the U.S. Senate, returning the islands to Japanese control in 1972.Finney, John W. [https://www.nytimes.com/1971/11/11/archives/senate-endorses-okinawa-treaty-votes-84-to-6-for-islands-return-to.html "Senate Endorses Okinawa Treaty; Votes 84 to 6 for Island's Return to Japan"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181027042715/https://www.nytimes.com/1971/11/11/archives/senate-endorses-okinawa-treaty-votes-84-to-6-for-islands-return-to.html |date=October 27, 2018 }}, The New York Times. November 11, 1971. Also in 1972, the Republic of China government and People's Republic of China government officially began to declare ownership of the islands.Kyodo News, "[http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20120911a3.html Senkaku purchase bid made official] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120918062938/http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20120911a3.html |date=September 18, 2012 }}", Japan Times, September 11, 2012, p. 2

Since 1972, when the islands reverted to Japanese government control, the government of Ishigaki has been given civic authority over the territory. The Japanese central government, however, has prohibited Ishigaki from surveying or developing the islands.Ito, Masami, "[http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20120518f1.html Jurisdiction over remote Senkakus comes with hot-button dangers] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120519185138/http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20120518f1.html |date=May 19, 2012 }}", Japan Times, May 18, 2012, p. 1

In 1978, a Japanese political group constructed the first lighthouse on Uotsuri island and grazed two goats. Goats have since proliferated and affected the island's vegetation.[https://megalodon.jp/2020-0705-1315-16/https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp:443/article/hozen/8/1/8_KJ00003259290/_pdf The Problem of Feral Goats on Uotsuri-jima in the Senkuku Islands and Appeals for Countermeasures to Resolve the Problem.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200705092723/https://megalodon.jp/2020-0705-1315-16/https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp:443/article/hozen/8/1/8_KJ00003259290/_pdf |date=July 5, 2020 }}, Japanese Journal of Conservation Ecology 8, p.90. Yasushi Yokohata, Laboratory of Environmental Biology, Faculty of Education, Toyama University. 2003.

In 1979 an official delegation from the Japanese government composed of 50 academics, government officials from the Foreign and Transport ministries, officials from the now-defunct Okinawa Development Agency, and Hiroyuki Kurihara, visited the islands and camped on Uotsuri for about four weeks. The delegation surveyed the local ecosystem, finding moles and sheep, studied the local marine life, and examined whether the islands would support human habitation.

In 1988, a Japanese political group reconstructed a lighthouse on Uotsuri Island.[https://web.archive.org/web/20200604024659/https://www.kaiho.mlit.go.jp/info/books/report2005/topics/p005-1.html 4. Start managing the "Uotsuri Island Lighthouse" of the Senkaku Islands] Japan Coast Guard Annual Report 2005

In 2005, a Japanese fisherman who owned a lighthouse at Uotsuri Island expressed his intention to relinquish the ownership of the lighthouse, and the lighthouse became a national property pursuant to the provisions of the Civil Code of Japan. Since then, the Japan Coast Guard has maintained and managed the Uotsuri lighthouse.

From 2002 to 2012, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications paid the Kurihara family ¥25 million a year to rent Uotsuri, Minami-Kojima and Kita-Kojima. Japan's Ministry of Defense rents Kuba island for an undisclosed amount. Kuba is used by the U.S. military as a practice aircraft bombing range. Japan's central government completely owns Taisho island.Hongo, Jun, "[http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20120419a4.html Tokyo's intentions for Senkaku islets] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121101154046/http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20120419a4.html |date=November 1, 2012 }}", Japan Times, April 19, 2012, p. 2.

The reaction of the Kan Cabinet to the September 2010 Senkaku boat collision incident was seen by former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as "a very foolish move" and "frighteningly naive".{{cite news |last1=Abe |first1=Shinzo |title=Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe on U.S.-Japanese Relations |url=https://s3.amazonaws.com/media.hudson.org/files/publications/AbeEventTranscript.pdf |issue=The Capital Hilton Washington, DC |publisher=Hudson Institute |date=15 October 2010 |access-date=April 20, 2023 |archive-date=December 6, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181206140708/https://s3.amazonaws.com/media.hudson.org/files/publications/AbeEventTranscript.pdf |url-status=live }}{{cite news |last1=Abe |first1=Shinzo |title=U.S.-Japan Relations |url=https://www.c-span.org/video/?296035-1/us-japan-relations |agency=C-SPAN |publisher=National Cable Satellite Corporation |date=15 October 2010 |access-date=April 20, 2023 |archive-date=August 27, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240827193603/https://www.c-span.org/video/?296035-1/us-japan-relations |url-status=live }}

On December 17, 2010, the city of Ishigaki designated January 14 as "Pioneering Day" to commemorate Japan's 1895 incorporation of the Senkaku Islands. China condemned Ishigaki's actions.Agence France-Presse, "[http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20101218x1.html Senkaku memorial day riles China] {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20120720181921/http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20101218x1.html |date=July 20, 2012 }}", Japan Times, December 19, 2010, p. 1. Retrieved January 29, 2011.

In May 2012, both the Tokyo Metropolitan and Japanese central governments announced plans to negotiate purchase of Uotsuri, Kita-Kojima, and Minami-Kojima from the Kurihara family, and on September 11, 2012, the Japanese government nationalized its control over Minami-kojima, Kita-kojima, and Uotsuri islands by purchasing them from the Kurihara family for ¥2.05 billion.{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/07/world/asia/japan-agrees-to-buy-islands-at-center-of-dispute-with-china.html |title=Japan Said to Have Tentative Deal to Buy 3 Disputed Islands from Private Owners |newspaper=The New York Times |date=September 6, 2012 |last1=Fackler |first1=Martin |access-date=February 12, 2017 |archive-date=July 5, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170705133951/http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/07/world/asia/japan-agrees-to-buy-islands-at-center-of-dispute-with-china.html |url-status=live }} China's Foreign Ministry objected saying Beijing would not "sit back and watch its territorial sovereignty violated."{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/japan-says-it-will-purchase-disputed-islands-from-private-owner-in-step-likely-to-anger-china/2012/09/10/75b0ad1a-fb2e-11e1-98c6-ec0a0a93f8eb_story.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120912084602/http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/japan-says-it-will-purchase-disputed-islands-from-private-owner-in-step-likely-to-anger-china/2012/09/10/75b0ad1a-fb2e-11e1-98c6-ec0a0a93f8eb_story.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=September 12, 2012 |title=Japan says it will purchase disputed islands from private owner, angering China |newspaper=Washington Post |agency=AP |date=September 10, 2012|access-date=September 10, 2012}}

In 2014, Japan constructed a lighthouse and wharf featuring Japanese flag insignia on the islets.Kyodo News, "[http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/03/02/national/politics-diplomacy/taiwan-activists-threaten-to-land-on-senkakus-if-japan-doesnt-remove-facilities/#.VPWSFY0cQ5s Taiwan activists threaten to land on Senkakus if Japan doesn't remove facilities] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221116221643/https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/03/02/national/politics-diplomacy/taiwan-activists-threaten-to-land-on-senkakus-if-japan-doesnt-remove-facilities/#.VPWSFY0cQ5s |date=November 16, 2022 }}", Japan Times, 2 March 2015

File:Txu-pclmaps-oclc-6618306-senkaku-gunto-13.jpg

File:20100915Senkaku Islands Uotsuri Jima Kita Kojima Minami Kojima.jpg

The island group are known to consist of five uninhabited islets and three barren rocks.{{Cite news |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-pacific-11341139 |title=How uninhabited islands soured China-Japan ties |work=BBC News |date=September 17, 2010 |access-date=June 20, 2018 |archive-date=November 8, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191108101023/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-pacific-11341139 |url-status=live }} China has identified and named as many as 71 islets that belong to this group after the Japanese Cabinet released names for 39 uninhabited islands.[https://web.archive.org/web/20120918053801/http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/china/2012-09/15/c_131852137.htm China announces geographic codes for Diaoyu Islands]{{Cite web |url=http://www.chinapost.com.tw/taiwan/national/national-news/2012/03/04/333537/China-releases.htm |title=China releases official names of disputed islands |access-date=December 16, 2014 |archive-date=June 29, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170629090308/http://www.chinapost.com.tw/taiwan/national/national-news/2012/03/04/333537/china-releases.htm |url-status=live }}

These minor features in the East China Sea are located approximately 120 nautical miles northeast of Taiwan, 200 nautical miles east of the Chinese mainland and 200 nautical miles southwest of the Japanese island of Okinawa.UC Berkeley: UC Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation; retrieved November 15, 2010.

According to one visitor, Uotsuri-shima, the largest of the islands, consists of a pair of rocky gray mountains with steep, boulder-strewn slopes rising almost straight from the water's edge. Other, nearby islands were described as large rocks covered by low vegetation.

In ascending order of distances, the island cluster is located:

• {{convert|140|km|nmi mi|abbr=on|lk=out}} east of Pengjia Islet, Republic of China (Taiwan)[http://www.acap.aq/ Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrals (ACAP)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110406100429/http://www.acap.aq/ |date=April 6, 2011 }}, [http://data.acap.aq/breeding_site.cfm?bs_id=2499 Breeding site details: Agincourt/P'eng-chia-Hsu] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706074909/http://data.acap.aq/breeding_site.cfm?bs_id=2499 |date=July 6, 2011 }}
• {{convert|170|km|nmi mi|abbr=on}} north of Ishigaki Island, Japan
• {{convert|186|km|nmi mi|abbr=on}} northeast of Keelung, Republic of China (Taiwan)
• {{convert|410|km|nmi mi|abbr=on}} west of Okinawa Island, Japan

File:Diaoyutai senkaku detail.png

The depth of the surrounding waters of the continental shelf is approximately {{convert|100|-|150|m}} except for the Okinawa Trough on the south.Ji, Guoxing. (1995). [http://escholarship.org/uc/item/7rq2b069 "Maritime Jurisdiction in the Three China Seas", p. 11] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120806132625/http://escholarship.org/uc/item/7rq2b069 |date=August 6, 2012 }}; Sibuet, Jean-Claude et al. [http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1987JGR....9214041S "Back arc extension in the Okinawa Trough"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150613062858/http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1987JGR....9214041S |date=June 13, 2015 }}, Journal of Geophysical Research, Vol. 92, Issue B13, pp. 14041-14063. The shelf is shallow enough that the western islands were likely connected to the mainland during the Last Glacial Period.{{Cite book |last=Ota, Hidetoshi Sakaguchi, Noriaki Ikehara, Sadao Hikida, Tsutomu |url=https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/5094347.pdf |title=The Herpetofauna of the Senkaku Group, Ryukyu Archipelago |date=2008-06-18 |publisher=University of Hawaii Press |oclc=652309468 |access-date=September 2, 2020 |archive-date=November 28, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211128144511/https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/5094347.pdf |url-status=live }}

File:Uotsuri-shima geo 1900.jpg in 1900.]]

Uotsuri, Kitakojima, Minamikojima and surrounding islets are sedimentary in origin, predominantly consisting of probably Miocene aged sandstone and sandstone-conglomerate, with subordinate conglomerate, coal seams up to {{Convert|10|cm|in}} thick, and rare siltstone beds. The sedimentary strata have around {{Convert|300|m|ft}} of exposed thickness at Uotsuri, and have SW-NE, EW and NW-SE strikes, with a general inclination of a dip of less than 20 degrees towards the North.Matsumoto, Y., and Tsuji, K. (1973) : [http://naosite.lb.nagasaki-u.ac.jp/dspace/bitstream/10069/16488/1/kyoyoS14_00_05_t.pdf Geology of Uotsuri-jima, Kita-kojima and Minami-kojima] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160407183746/http://naosite.lb.nagasaki-u.ac.jp/dspace/bitstream/10069/16488/1/kyoyoS14_00_05_t.pdf |date=April 7, 2016 }}. Bull. Fac. Liberal Arts, Nagasaki Univ. (Nat. Sci.), 14, 43–57 (in Japanese with English abstract). These strata are intruded by sheets of Mio-Pliocene porphyritic hornblende diorite, and are fringed by recent coral outcrops and surface talus deposits. Kuba and Taisho are volcanic in origin, with Kuba comprising "pyroxene andesite, lava, volcanic bombs, pumice, limestone, and other rocky material" and Taisho is thought to be consist of "andesite, tuff breccia, and tuffaceous sandstone".{{Cite web|title=Geology of the Senkaku Islands {{!}} Info Library|url=https://www.spf.org/islandstudies/info_library/senkaku-islands-02-geography--02_geo007.html|access-date=2020-09-02|website=Review of Island Studies|archive-date=January 24, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220124231502/https://www.spf.org/islandstudies/info_library/senkaku-islands-02-geography--02_geo007.html|url-status=live}}

Permission for collecting herbs on three of the islands was recorded in an Imperial Chinese edict of 1893.Ji, [http://escholarship.org/uc/item/7rq2b069 p. 11; excerpt, "In 1893, Empress Dowager Tsu Shih of the Qing Dynasty issued an imperial edict .... China argues that discovery accompanied by some formal act of usage is sufficient to establish sovereignty over the islands."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120806132625/http://escholarship.org/uc/item/7rq2b069 |date=August 6, 2012 }}

Several floral surveys have been conducted on the Senkaku islands,{{Cite web |title=Surveys Between the end of World War II and 1970, Part 1 (1950, 1952, 1953, 1964: University of the Ryukyus) |url=https://www.spf.org/islandstudies/info_library/senkaku-islands-04-eco--04_eco003.html |access-date=2020-09-03 |website=Review of Island Studies |archive-date=June 8, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230608043607/https://www.spf.org/islandstudies/info_library/senkaku-islands-04-eco--04_eco003.html |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |title=Surveys Between the end of World War II and 1970, Part 2 (1970, 1971: University of the Ryukyus) |url=https://www.spf.org/islandstudies/info_library/senkaku-islands-04-eco--04_eco004.html |access-date=2020-09-03 |website=Review of Island Studies |archive-date=August 27, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240827193734/https://www.spf.org/islandstudies/info_library/senkaku-islands-04-eco--04_eco004.html |url-status=live }} with a 1980 survey finding that Uotsuri had 339 species of plants. These ecological communities varied based on altitude, with the communities being divided into windswept mountaintop vegetation with Podocarpus macrophyllus trees, with the understory including Liriope muscari and Rhaphiolepis umbellata, inclined high forest including the palms Livistona chinensis and Arenga engleri, lowland windswept shrub forest including Ficus microcarpa and Planchonella obovata, and seashore plants. Minamikojima was much less diverse, and dominated by grasses, while Kitakojima only had sparse plant life.{{Cite web |title=Surveys following Okinawa's reversion to Japan (1979: Okinawa Development Agency) |url=https://www.spf.org/islandstudies/info_library/senkaku-islands-04-eco--04_eco005.html |access-date=2020-09-03 |website=Review of Island Studies |archive-date=June 8, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230608060939/https://www.spf.org/islandstudies/info_library/senkaku-islands-04-eco--04_eco005.html |url-status=live }} Kuba has a forest near the crater, which includes a variety of flora including Ceodes umbellifera, Macaranga tanarius, Ficus benjamina, Diospyros maritima, Trema orientalis, Machilus thunbergii, and Livistona subglobosa, with forest floor plants being sparse.

In an account by {{ill|Hisashi Kuroiwa|lt=Hisashi Kuroiwa|ja|黒岩恒|WD=}} in 1900, it was noted the large number of birds present on the islands, tens of thousands of short-tailed and black-footed albatross would flock on Uotsuri-shima, in the colder months, while hundreds of thousands of sooty tern and brown noddy would descend on Kitakojima and Minamikojima in the warmer months. He also described the air of Uotsuri as swarming with bluebottle flies and mosquitoes. In the same year, an account by {{ill|Miyajima Mikinosuke|lt=Miyajima Mikinosuke|ja|宮島幹之助|WD=}}, surveying Kuba Island, noted the presence of whimbrel, Von Schrenck's bittern, the streaked shearwater, and the brown booby. Mikinosuke also noted the large number of chickens and feral cats on the island, with dozens of cats descending on the seabirds at night.{{Cite web |title=Meiji Era surveys (1900: Kuroiwa and Miyajima) |url=https://www.spf.org/islandstudies/info_library/senkaku-islands-04-eco--04_eco001.html |access-date=2020-09-03 |website=Review of Island Studies |archive-date=June 8, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230608051404/https://www.spf.org/islandstudies/info_library/senkaku-islands-04-eco--04_eco001.html |url-status=live }} Kitakojima and Minamikojima are one of only two significant breeding places of the rare short-tailed albatross (Phoebastria albatrus). The islands have been recognised as an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International.{{cite web |url=http://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/senkaku-islands-iba-japan |title=Senkaku Islands |author= |date=2021 |website=BirdLife Data Zone |publisher=BirdLife International |access-date=1 February 2021 |archive-date=February 3, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200203154047/http://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/senkaku-islands-iba-japan |url-status=live }}

Uotsuri-shima, the largest island, has a number of endemic species such as the Senkaku mole (Mogera uchidai) and Okinawa-kuro-oo-ari ant. Due to the introduction of domestic goats to the island in 1978, the Senkaku mole is now an endangered species.Zoological Society of London, [https://web.archive.org/web/20100922150619/http://edgeofexistence.org/mammals/species_info.php?id=68 EDGE (Evolutionary Distinct & Globally Endangered) Senkaku mole], 2006; retrieved November 15, 2010. The striped field mouse (Apodemus agrarius) has also been noted to be present on Uotsuri. Surveys from 1900 to 1953 and noted the presence of the Asian house shrew, black rats and fruit bats but these were not noted in more recent surveys.

Six species of reptile have been recorded from the islands, including Gekko hokouensis (Uotsuri, Minami) Eumeces elegans (Uotsuri, Minami), an indeterminate species of Scincella (Uotsuri) Ramphotyphlops braminus (Uotsuri) Elaphe carinata (Uotsuri) and Dinodon rufozonatus (Uotsuri).

Rich marine biodiversity adjacent to the islands has been recognized but poorly studied. Seemingly, varieties of larger fish and animals inhabit or migrate through the area, including tunas, sharks, marlins, critically endangered hawksbill sea turtles, dolphins, pilot whales, sperm whales, and humpback whales.{{Cite web |url=http://senkakushizen.iinaa.net/page111.html |title=尖閣諸島の自然 – 尖閣諸島の魚たち |access-date=April 6, 2016 |archive-date=August 27, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240827193605/http://senkakushizen.iinaa.net/page111.html |url-status=live }}

{{Main|Senkaku Islands dispute}}

Territorial sovereignty over the islands and the maritime boundaries around them are disputed between the People's Republic of China, the Republic of China, and Japan.

The People's Republic and Republic of China claim that the islands have been a part of Chinese territory since at least 1534. China acknowledges that Japan took control of the islands in 1894–1895 during the first Sino-Japanese War, through the signature of the Treaty of Shimonoseki. China asserts that the Potsdam Declaration required that Japan relinquish control of all islands except for "the islands of Honshū, Hokkaidō, Kyūshū, Shikoku and such minor islands as we determine", and China states that this means control of the islands should pass to Republic of China, which was part of China at the time of the first Sino-Japanese War as well as of the San Francisco Peace Treaty. Both the People's Republic of China (PRC){{cite book|editor1=夏征农|editor2=陈至立|script-title=zh:辞海：第六版彩图本 |trans-title=Cihai (Sixth Edition in Color) |date=September 2009|location=上海. Shanghai|publisher=上海辞书出版社. Shanghai Lexicographical Publishing House.|isbn=9787532628599| language=zh|pages=2193–2194|quote={{lang|zh-hans|台湾省{...}包括台湾岛、澎湖列岛和赤尾屿、绿岛、兰屿、彭佳屿、钓鱼岛等岛屿。{...}钓鱼岛 黃尾屿 赤尾屿}}}} and the Republic of China (ROC){{cite web|url=http://dict.revised.moe.edu.tw/cgi-bin/cbdic/gsweb.cgi?o=dcbdic&searchid=Z00000045983|language=zh-tw|script-title=zh:教育部重編國語辭典修訂本|access-date=5 October 2019|quote=字詞 【釣魚臺】 注音 ㄉㄧㄠˋ ㄩˊ ㄊㄞˊ 漢語拼音 diào yú tái 釋義{...} 2 群島名。位於臺灣東北，距基隆一百零二海里，為我國領土的一部分。屬宜蘭縣，分為釣魚臺本島、黃尾嶼、赤尾嶼三部分。雖日本主張擁有群島主權，但根據明代陳侃的《使琉球錄》，郭汝霖的《重編使琉球錄》，胡宗憲的《籌海圖編》，以及日本林子平的《三國通覽圖說》等文獻，此島應屬臺灣附屬島嶼。}} respectively separately claim sovereignty based on arguments that include the following points:

• Discovery and early recording in maps and travelogues.[http://gz.fjedu.gov.cn/dili/ShowArticle.asp?ArticleID=18912 On the sovereignty of Diaoyu Islands] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120229055333/http://gz.fjedu.gov.cn/dili/ShowArticle.asp?ArticleID=18912 |date=February 29, 2012 }} (论钓鱼岛主权的归属), Fujian Education Department {{verify source |date=August 2019 |reason=This ref was deleted (Special:Diff/872123425) by a bug in VisualEditor and later restored by a bot from the original cite at Special:Permalink/868444848 cite #47 – please verify the cite's accuracy and remove this {verify source} template. User:GreenC bot/Job 18}}
• The islands being China's frontier off-shore defence against wokou (Japanese pirates) during the Ming and Qing dynasties (1368–1911).
• A Chinese map of Asia, as well as the Sangoku Tsūran Zusetsu map compiled by Japanese cartographer Hayashi Shihei"[https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/44014900] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190430070530/https://www.worldcat.org/title/sangoku-tsuran-zusetsu/oclc/44014900%26referer%3Dbrief_results|date=April 30, 2019}}" {{verify source|date=August 2019|reason=This ref was deleted (Special:Diff/872123425) by a bug in VisualEditor and later restored by a bot from the original cite at Special:Permalink/868444848 cite #48 – please verify the cite's accuracy and remove this {verify source} template. User:GreenC bot/Job 18}} in the 18th century, showing the islands as a part of China.[http://english.people.com.cn/200305/25/eng20030525_117192.shtml "China's Diaoyu Islands Sovereignty is Undeniable"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100920032657/http://english.people.com.cn/200305/25/eng20030525_117192.shtml |date=September 20, 2010 }}, People's Daily, 25 May 2003. Retrieved 24 February 2007. {{verify source |date=August 2019 |reason=This ref was deleted (Special:Diff/872123425) by a bug in VisualEditor and later restored by a bot from the original cite at Special:Permalink/868444848 cite #49 – please verify the cite's accuracy and remove this {verify source} template. User:GreenC bot/Job 18}}
• Japan taking control of the islands in 1895 at the same time as the First Sino-Japanese War was happening. Furthermore, correspondence between Foreign Minister Inoue and Interior Minister Yamagata in 1885, warned against the erection of national markers and developing their land to avoid Qing Dynasty suspicions.{{cite web |url=http://www.mofa.go.jp/region/asia-paci/senkaku/qa_1010.html#qa08 |title=Q&A on the Senkaku Islands |work=Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan |access-date=30 October 2014 |archive-date=December 9, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101209063711/http://www.mofa.go.jp//region//asia-paci//senkaku//qa_1010.html#qa08 |url-status=live }} {{verify source |date=August 2019 |reason=This ref was deleted (Special:Diff/872123425) by a bug in VisualEditor and later restored by a bot from the original cite at Special:Permalink/868444848 cite #50 – please verify the cite's accuracy and remove this {verify source} template. User:GreenC bot/Job 18}}
• The Potsdam Declaration stating that "Japanese sovereignty shall be limited to the islands of Honshū, Hokkaidō, Kyūshū, Shikoku and such minor islands as we determine", and "we" referred to the victors of the Second World War who met at Potsdam and Japan's acceptance of the terms of the Declaration when it surrendered.{{cite web |url=http://japanfocus.org/-koji-taira/2119 |title=Koji Taira |date=July 2, 2008 |publisher=Japan Focus |access-date=20 August 2012 |archive-date=August 22, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120822000515/http://www.japanfocus.org/-Koji-Taira/2119 |url-status=live }} {{verify source |date=August 2019 |reason=This ref was deleted (Special:Diff/872123425) by a bug in VisualEditor and later restored by a bot from the original cite at Special:Permalink/868444848 cite #51 – please verify the cite's accuracy and remove this {verify source} template. User:GreenC bot/Job 18}}{{cite web|url=http://www.ndl.go.jp/constitution/e/etc/c06.html|title=Potsdam Declaration (full text)|access-date=30 October 2014|archive-date=January 22, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150122210220/http://www.ndl.go.jp/constitution/e/etc/c06.html|url-status=live}} {{verify source |date=August 2019 |reason=This ref was deleted (Special:Diff/872123425) by a bug in VisualEditor and later restored by a bot from the original cite at Special:Permalink/868444848 cite #52 – please verify the cite's accuracy and remove this {verify source} template. User:GreenC bot/Job 18}}
• China's formal protest of the 1971 US transfer of control to Japan.People's Daily, Beijing, China, 31 December 1971, Page 1, "An Declaration of The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China, 1971–12-30" {{verify source |date=August 2019 |reason=This ref was deleted (Special:Diff/872123425) by a bug in VisualEditor and later restored by a bot from the original cite at Special:Permalink/868444848 cite #53 - please verify the cite's accuracy and remove this {verify source} template. User:GreenC bot/Job 18}}

Japan does not accept that there is a dispute, asserting that the islands are an integral part of Japan.Netherlands Institute for the Law of the Sea (NILOS). (2000). {{Google books|6GOVS_0Zm6oC|International Organizations and the Law of the Sea, p. 108.|page=108}} Japan has rejected claims that the islands were under China's control prior to 1895, and that these islands were contemplated by the Potsdam Declaration or affected by the San Francisco Peace Treaty.Ji, [http://escholarship.org/uc/item/7rq2b069 pp. 11–12, 19.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120806132625/http://escholarship.org/uc/item/7rq2b069 |date=August 6, 2012 }}

The existence of the back-arc basin complicates descriptive issues. According to Professor Ji Guoxing of the Asia-Pacific Department at Shanghai Institute for International Studies,File:BAB of the World -Converted-.jpgs of the world.]]

• China's interpretation of the geography is that

...the Okinawa Trough proves that the continental shelves of China and Japan are not connected, that the Trough serves as the boundary between them, and that the Trough should not be ignored ....Ji, [http://escholarship.org/uc/item/7rq2b069 p. 11.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120806132625/http://escholarship.org/uc/item/7rq2b069 |date=August 6, 2012 }}

• Japan's interpretation of the geography is that

...the trough is just an incidental depression in a continuous continental margin between the two countries ... [and] the trough should be ignored ....

File:Txu-oclc-6654394-ng-51-6th-ed.jpg (1954)]]

The stance given by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs is that the Senkaku Islands are clearly an inherent territory of Japan, in light of historical facts and based upon international law, and the Senkaku Islands are under the valid control of Japan. They also state "there exists no issue of territorial sovereignty to be resolved concerning the Senkaku Islands."{{cite web |url=http://www.mofa.go.jp/region/asia-paci/senkaku/qa_1010.html |publisher=Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan |title=Q&A on the Senkaku Islands |access-date=August 30, 2019 |archive-date=December 9, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101209063711/http://www.mofa.go.jp//region//asia-paci//senkaku//qa_1010.html |url-status=live }} {{verify source |date=August 2019 |reason=This ref was deleted (Special:Diff/872123425) by a bug in VisualEditor and later restored by a bot from the original cite at Special:Permalink/868444848 cite #13 – please verify the cite's accuracy and remove this {verify source} template. User:GreenC bot/Job 18}}{{cite news |url=http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKTRE68N09H20100925 |title=Japan refuses China demand for apology in boat row |publisher=Reuter |date=25 September 2010|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100928022824/http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKTRE68N09H20100925|url-status=dead |archive-date= 28 September 2010}} {{verify source |date=August 2019 |reason=This ref was deleted (Special:Diff/872123425) by a bug in VisualEditor and later restored by a bot from the original cite at Special:Permalink/868444848 cite #62 – please verify the cite's accuracy and remove this {verify source} template. User:GreenC bot/Job 18}} The following points are given:

• The islands had been uninhabited and showed no trace of having been under the control of China prior to 1895.{{cite web |url=http://www.mofa.go.jp/region/asia-paci/senkaku/senkaku.html |title=The Basic View on the Sovereignty over the Senkaku Islands |website=www.mofa.go.jp |access-date=March 28, 2004 |archive-date=September 30, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100930044112/http://www.mofa.go.jp/region/asia-paci/senkaku/senkaku.html |url-status=live }} {{verify source |date=August 2019 |reason=This ref was deleted (Special:Diff/872123425) by a bug in VisualEditor and later restored by a bot from the original cite at Special:Permalink/868444848 cite #63 – please verify the cite's accuracy and remove this {verify source} template. User:GreenC bot/Job 18}}
• The purposes of maps and the intentions behind their creators can vary significantly, and the mere existence of an ancient map does not substantiate claims of territorial sovereignty. The map (1785) cited by China from Hayashi Shihei does not provide evidence that the creator's coloring was intended to indicate territorial sovereignty. This map also depicts Taiwan as only about one-third the size of Okinawa's main island, and it is colored differently from mainland China, which controlled Taiwan at the time. This suggests that the creator did not possess accurate knowledge.
• The islands were neither part of Taiwan nor part of the Pescadores Islands, which were ceded to Japan by the Qing Dynasty of China in Article II of the May 1895 Treaty of Shimonoseki, thus were not renounced by Japan under Article II of the San Francisco Peace Treaty, which serves as the international law addressing the aftermath of WW2.Satoru Sato, Press Secretary, Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs [https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748704129204575505141368553952 Letter to the Editor: Clarifying the Senkaku Islands Dispute] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171114181634/https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748704129204575505141368553952 |date=November 14, 2017 }} The Wall Street Journal, 21 September 2010 {{verify source |date=August 2019 |reason=This ref was deleted (Special:Diff/872123425) by a bug in VisualEditor and later restored by a bot from the original cite at Special:Permalink/868444848 cite #64 – please verify the cite's accuracy and remove this {verify source} template. User:GreenC bot/Job 18}}
• A resident of Okinawa Prefecture who had been engaging in activities such as fishery around the Senkaku Islands since around 1884 made an application for the lease of the islands, and approval was granted by the Meiji Government in 1896. After this approval, he sent a total of 248 workers to those islands and ran the following businesses: constructing piers,{{cite video |title=Akira Ikegami Special なぜ日中は対立するのか？ 映像で見えてきた尖閣問題 |language=ja}} {{verify source |date=August 2019 |reason=This ref was deleted (Special:Diff/872123425) by a bug in VisualEditor and later restored by a bot from the original cite at Special:Permalink/868444848 cite #65 – please verify the cite's accuracy and remove this {verify source} template. User:GreenC bot/Job 18}} collecting bird feathers, manufacturing dried bonito, collecting coral, raising cattle, manufacturing canned goods and collecting mineral phosphate guano (bird manure for fuel use). The fact that the Meiji Government gave approval concerning the use of the Senkaku Islands to an individual, who in turn was able to openly run these businesses mentioned above based on the approval, demonstrates Japan's valid control over the Islands.{{cite web | url=http://nccuir.lib.nccu.edu.tw/bitstream/140.119/34418/7/61504107.pdf | script-title=zh:日本的東海政策 — 第四章：釣魚臺政策 | access-date=30 October 2013 | language=zh | archive-date=November 1, 2013 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131101020732/http://nccuir.lib.nccu.edu.tw/bitstream/140.119/34418/7/61504107.pdf | url-status=dead }} {{verify source |date=August 2019 |reason=This ref was deleted (Special:Diff/872123425) by a bug in VisualEditor and later restored by a bot from the original cite at Special:Permalink/868444848 cite #66 – please verify the cite's accuracy and remove this {verify source} template. User:GreenC bot/Job 18}}
• In May 1920, a thank-you letter from the Republic of China's consulate in Nagasaki regarding the rescue of Chinese fishermen in distress near the Senkaku Islands by Japanese fishermen included the notation "Senkaku Islands, Yaeyama District, Okinawa Prefecture, Empire of Japan."
• Though the islands were controlled by the United States as an occupying power between 1945 and 1972, Japan has since 1972 exercised administration over the islands.
• In 1953, the official Chinese newspaper People's Daily published an article that explicitly stated that the Ryukyu Islands consist of seven island groups, including the Senkaku Islands. Additionally, in the world atlas published by the China Map Press in 1958 (reprinted in 1960), these islands were clearly referred to as the "Senkaku Islands" and considered part of Okinawa.{{cite web |title=The Basic View on the Sovereignty over the Senkaku Islands |url=http://www.mofa.go.jp/region/asia-paci/senkaku/senkaku.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100930044112/http://www.mofa.go.jp/region/asia-paci/senkaku/senkaku.html |archive-date=September 30, 2010 |access-date=March 28, 2004 |publisher=Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan}} {{verify source|date=August 2019|reason=This ref was deleted (Special:Diff/872123425) by a bug in VisualEditor and later restored by a bot from the original cite at Special:Permalink/868444848 cite #68 – please verify the cite's accuracy and remove this {verify source} template. User:GreenC bot/Job 18}}
• Republic of China and People Republic of China only started claiming ownership of the islands in 1971, following a May 1969 United Nations report that a large oil and gas reserve may exist under the seabed near the islands.{{cite news |first=Masami |last=Ito |url=http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20120518f1.html |title=Jurisdiction over remote Senkakus comes with hot-button dangers |date=18 May 2012 |newspaper=Japan Times |access-date=May 17, 2012 |archive-date=May 19, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120519185138/http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20120518f1.html |url-status=dead }} {{verify source |date=August 2019 |reason=This ref was deleted (Special:Diff/872123425) by a bug in VisualEditor and later restored by a bot from the original cite at Special:Permalink/868444848 cite #67 – please verify the cite's accuracy and remove this {verify source} template. User:GreenC bot/Job 18}}{{cite web |url=http://www.mofa.go.jp/region/asia-paci/senkaku/senkaku.html |title=The Basic View on the Sovereignty over the Senkaku Islands |publisher=Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan |access-date=March 28, 2004 |archive-date=September 30, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100930044112/http://www.mofa.go.jp/region/asia-paci/senkaku/senkaku.html |url-status=live }} {{verify source |date=August 2019 |reason=This ref was deleted (Special:Diff/872123425) by a bug in VisualEditor and later restored by a bot from the original cite at Special:Permalink/868444848 cite #68 – please verify the cite's accuracy and remove this {verify source} template. User:GreenC bot/Job 18}}

In 2012 the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs created a website in support of its claims;{{Cite web |url=http://www.mofa.go.jp/region/asia-paci/senkaku/index.html |title=Senkaku Islands |access-date=February 23, 2015 |archive-date=February 26, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150226050405/http://www.mofa.go.jp/region/asia-paci/senkaku/index.html |url-status=live }} in late 2014 the National Marine Data and Information Service, a department under the State Oceanic Administration of People's Republic of China created a website of its own to support its claims.{{Cite web |url=http://www.diaoyudao.org.cn/ |title=钓鱼岛_钓鱼岛是中国的固有领 (Diaoyu Islands |access-date=February 23, 2015 |archive-date=January 29, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150129133640/http://www.diaoyudao.org.cn/ |url-status=live }}{{cite news |url=http://sinosphere.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/01/01/china-japan-dispute-over-islands-spreads-to-cyberspace/ |title=China-Japan Dispute Over Islands Spreads to Cyberspace |date=January 1, 2015 |newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=February 23, 2015 |archive-date=January 13, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150113042641/http://sinosphere.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/01/01/china-japan-dispute-over-islands-spreads-to-cyberspace/ |url-status=live }} In 2016, Chinese fishing, Coast Guard and other vessels were entering the territorial waters around the islands almost daily and in August 2016 the Japanese foreign minister Fumio Kishida reportedly told China's foreign minister Wang Yi "that the activity represented an escalation of tensions" according to Japanese sources. It was the first meeting of the top diplomats since the Permanent Court of Arbitration ruling against China's South China Sea claimsPage, Jeremy, [https://www.wsj.com/articles/chinas-claim-to-most-of-south-china-sea-has-no-legal-basis-court-says-1468315137 "Tribunal Rejects Beijing's Claims to South China Sea"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170228205039/https://www.wsj.com/articles/chinas-claim-to-most-of-south-china-sea-has-no-legal-basis-court-says-1468315137 |date=February 28, 2017 }}, Wall Street Journal, July 12, 2016. Retrieved 2016-08-24.Dyer, Geoff, and Tom Mitchell, [https://www.ft.com/content/52072080-4a6f-11e6-8d68-72e9211e86ab?exe=16q3beacon&segmentId=aba9d385-594c-f817-40cc-dfb8139984a9 "South China Sea: Building up trouble"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170210190913/https://www.ft.com/content/52072080-4a6f-11e6-8d68-72e9211e86ab?exe=16q3beacon&segmentId=aba9d385-594c-f817-40cc-dfb8139984a9 |date=February 10, 2017 }}, Financial Times, July 15, 2016. With high-resolution aerial image of Fiery Cross Reef. Retrieved 2016-08-24. and was coincident with a three-party meeting (including South Korea) relative to a North Korean submarine-launched missile in the Sea of Japan.Obe, Mitsuru, [https://www.wsj.com/articles/japan-presses-china-on-vessels-sailing-near-disputed-islands-1472039715 "Japan Presses China on Vessels Sailing Near Disputed Islands"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170205124056/https://www.wsj.com/articles/japan-presses-china-on-vessels-sailing-near-disputed-islands-1472039715 |date=February 5, 2017 }}, Wall Street Journal, August 24, 2016. Retrieved 2016-08-24.

On 22 June 2020, the Ishigaki City Council voted to change the name of the area containing the Senkaku Islands from "Tonoshiro" to "Tonoshiro Senkaku".{{cite web |url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2020/06/22/national/ishigaki-senkaku-renaming/ |title=Ishigaki renames area containing Senkaku Islands, prompting backlash fears |work=The Japan Times |date=2020-06-22 |access-date=2020-09-16 |archive-date=August 11, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200811211945/https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2020/06/22/national/ishigaki-senkaku-renaming/ |url-status=live }} Republic of China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs responded that the islands belong to Republic of China, and any moves to deny this fact are invalid.{{cite web |url=https://international.thenewslens.com/article/136795 |title=Japan: Ishigaki City Council Votes to Inscribe 'Senkaku' Into Administrative Name of Disputed Islands |work=The News Lens |date=2020-06-22 |access-date=2020-09-16 |language=en |archive-date=August 30, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200830202301/https://international.thenewslens.com/article/136795 |url-status=live }} The Taiwanese government and the opposition KMT party also condemned the council's move, saying the Islands are ROC territory and the nation would not give up even "an inch" of its sovereignty.{{cite web |url=https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2020/06/23/2003738693 |title=Nation protests Japan's Diaoyutai move |work=The Taipei Times |date=2020-06-23 |access-date=2020-09-16 |archive-date=September 16, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200916184404/https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2020/06/23/2003738693 |url-status=live }}

Diaoyu Islands: The Truth is a documentary film produced by Chris D. Nebe and J.J. Osbun of Monarex Hollywood Corporation and directed by Chris D. Nebe. Nebe calls on the Japanese Government to cede the islands to China, asserting that Japan has no justifiable claim to the islands, and that the United States of America has turned a blind eye in Japan's favor due to the need of the United States to have a strong ally between it and China. Reception of the film was positive in Chinese media, while the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's Correspondents Report called Nebe a 'Chinese propagandist' in 2014.{{cite web|url=https://www.abc.net.au/correspondents/content/2014/s3997182.htm|title=From porn to propaganda: The Truth|work=ABC Television|date=May 4, 2014|access-date=April 7, 2022|archive-date=August 27, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240827193606/https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/correspondentsreport|url-status=live}}

In 2018 the National Museum of Territory and Sovereignty (currently located in the Toranomon Mitsui Building, Chiyoda, Tokyo) was established by the Japanese government to raise public awareness of Japanese territorial rights issues concerning the Senkaku Islands, as well as issues concerning territorial claims to Takeshima and southernmost Kuril Islands.{{Cite news |date=2018-01-25 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/japan-displays-documents-to-defend-claims-to-disputed-isles/2018/01/24/c9333f42-0187-11e8-86b9-8908743c79dd_story.html |title=Japan displays documents to defend claims to disputed isles |newspaper=The Washington Post |agency=Associated Press|access-date=2018-01-26|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180126185106/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/japan-displays-documents-to-defend-claims-to-disputed-isles/2018/01/24/c9333f42-0187-11e8-86b9-8908743c79dd_story.html|archive-date=2018-01-26}}

• Desert island
• Kuril Islands
• List of islands
• Okinotorishima
• Paracel Islands
• Spratly Islands

{{notelist}}

{{reflist}}

{{refbegin}}

• Belcher, Edward and Arthur Adams. (1848). Narrative of the Voyage of H.M.S. Samarang, During the Years 1843–46: Employed Surveying the Islands of the Eastern Archipelago. London : Reeve, Benham, and Reeve. [https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/192154 OCLC 192154] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220507160001/http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/192154 |date=May 7, 2022 }}
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• Inoue, Kiyoshi. (1972) Senkaku Letto /Diaoyu Islands The Historical Treatise. Kyoto: Daisan Publisher (出版社: 第三書館) (1996/10)[https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/4807496123 「尖閣」列島―釣魚諸島の史的解明 [単行本]] {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20120717204607/http://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/4807496123 |date=July 17, 2012 }}. {{ISBN|978-4-8074-9612-9}}; also hosted in here [http://www.mahoroba.ne.jp/~tatsumi/dinoue0.html] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140626064957/http://www.mahoroba.ne.jp/~tatsumi/dinoue0.html |date=June 26, 2014 }} for online reading (set to Shift-JIS character code), with [http://www.skycitygallery.com/japan/diaohist.html English synopsis here] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210309144855/http://www.skycitygallery.com/japan/diaohist.html |date=March 9, 2021 }}. Chinese translation by Ying Hui, Published by Commercial Press Hong Kong (1973) [http://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/1723970?lookfor=author:%22%E4%BA%95%E4%B8%8A%E6%B8%85,%201913-%22&offset=3&max=18 釣魚列島的歷史和主權問題 / 井上清著 ; 英慧譯] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110614143225/http://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/1723970?lookfor=author:%22%E4%BA%95%E4%B8%8A%E6%B8%85,%201913-%22&offset=3&max=18 |date=June 14, 2011 }}, {{ISBN|9622574734}}.
• Jarrad, Frederick W. (1873). The China Sea Directory, Vol. IV. Comprising the Coasts of Korea, Russian Tartary, the Japan Islands, Gulfs of Tartary and Amúr, and the Sea of Okhotsk. London: Hydrographic Office, Admiralty. [https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/557221949 OCLC 557221949]
• {{citation |last=Lai |first=Yew Meng |year=2013 |title=Nationalism and Power Politics in Japan's Relations with China: A Neoclassical Realist Interpretation |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=2QmCAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA208 208] |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-136-22977-0}}
• Lee, Seokwoo, Shelagh Furness and Clive Schofield. (2002). Territorial disputes among Japan, China and Republic of China concerning the Senkaku Islands. Durham: University of Durham, [http://www.dur.ac.uk/ibru/ International Boundaries Research Unit (IBRU)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091018082015/http://www.dur.ac.uk/ibru/ |date=October 18, 2009 }}. {{ISBN|978-1-897643-50-1}}; [http://www.worldcat.org/title/territorial-disputes-among-japan-china-and-Republic of China-concerning-the-senkaku-islands/oclc/249501645?referer=di&ht=edition OCLC 249501645] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230420162042/https://www.worldcat.org/title/territorial-disputes-among-japan-china-and-Republic |date=April 20, 2023 }}
• Suganuma, Unryu. (2000). Sovereign Rights and Territorial Space in Sino-Japanese Relations. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. {{ISBN|978-0-8248-2159-3}}; [https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/170955369 OCLC 170955369]
• Valencia, Mark J. (2001). Maritime Regime Building: Lessons Learned and Their Relevance for Northeast Asia. The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff. {{ISBN|9789041115805}}; [https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/174100966 OCLC 174100966]

{{refend}}

{{refbegin}}

• Donaldson, John and Alison Williams. "Understanding Maritime Jurisdictional Disputes: The East China Sea and Beyond", Journal of International Affairs, Vol. 59, No. 1. {{JSTOR|24358237 }}.
• Dzurek, Daniel. [https://web.archive.org/web/20100222122739/http://www-ibru.dur.ac.uk/resources/docs/senkaku.html "The Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands Dispute"], International Boundaries Research Unit (IBRU). October 18, 1996.
• Helflin, William B. [https://web.archive.org/web/20100928092444/http://www.hawaii.edu/aplpj/articles/APLPJ_01.2_heflin.pdf "Daiyou/Senkaku Islands Dispute: Japan and China, Oceans Apart"], 1 Asian-Pacific Law & Policy Journal, pp. 1–22 (2000).
• O'Hanlon, Michael E. The Senkaku Paradox: Risking Great Power War Over Small Stakes (Brookings Institution, 2019) [http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=55868 online review] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220217095037/https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=55868 |date=February 17, 2022 }}
• Peterson, Alexander M. [http://organizations.lawschool.cornell.edu/ilj/issues/42.3/CIN305.pdf "Sino-Japanese Cooperation in the East China Sea: A Lasting Arrangement?"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100618131307/http://organizations.lawschool.cornell.edu/ilj/issues/42.3/CIN305.pdf |date=June 18, 2010 }} 42 Cornell International Law Journal, pp. 441–474 (2009).
• Ramos-Mrosovsky, Carlos. [http://www.law.upenn.edu/journals/jil/articles/volume29/issue4/RamosMrosovsky29U.Pa.J.Int'lL.903(2008).pdf "International Law's Unhelpful Role in the Senkaku Islands"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170220102636/https://www.law.upenn.edu/journals/jil/articles/volume29/issue4/RamosMrosovsky29U.Pa.J.Int%27lL.903%282008%29.pdf |date=February 20, 2017 }}, 29 University of Pennsylvania Journal of International Law, pp. 903–946 (2008).
• Sunohara, Tsuyoshi. Fencing in the Dark: Japan, China, and the Senkakus (Japan Publishing Industry Foundation for Culture, 2020) [https://www.jpicinternational.com/books/politicalscience/75ff44af0065ce830448cb4bc82be9d38331fc06.html] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230307071634/https://www.jpicinternational.com/books/politicalscience/75ff44af0065ce830448cb4bc82be9d38331fc06.html |date=March 7, 2023 }}

{{refend}}

{{Commons category}}

• Cabinet Secretariat (Japan), [https://www.cas.go.jp/jp/ryodo_eg/taiou/index.html#senkaku Japan's Response Respecting Law and Order in the International Community / The Senkaku Islands]
• Cabinet Secretariat (Japan), [https://www.cas.go.jp/jp/ryodo/kenkyu/senkaku/index.html Senkaku Islands Research and Commentary Site]
• Google Maps: [https://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Senkaku+Islands&ie=UTF8&t=h&ll=25.732024,123.500919&spn=0.103453,0.134239&z=13 Senkaku Islands]
• [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-11341139 "Q&A China Japan island row"], BBC News Asia-Pacific. September 24, 2010.
• GlobalSecurity.org: [http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/war/senkaku.htm "Senkaku/Diaoyutai Islands"]; [http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/war/senkaku-links.htm References and links]
• Inventory of Conflict and Environment (ICE), [https://web.archive.org/web/20101118014205/http://www1.american.edu/TED/ice/DIAOYU.HTM Diaoyu Islands Dispute]
• Hayashi Shihei (1785). [http://www.wul.waseda.ac.jp/kotenseki/html/ru03/ru03_01547/index.html 三国通覧図説] (Sangoku Tsuran Zusetsu). Waseda University,
• Senkaku Islands Bibliographical Materials Society [http://pinacles.zouri.jp/bunken/bunken.htm Bibliography of primary source material about Senkaku Islands]
• [https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/feat/archives/2021/03/01/2003753025 "Notes from central Taiwan: Some 'damn foolish thing' in the Senkakus"], Taipei Times

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