World map using UN-backed method ‘correct’ over disputed islands: Japan
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Questions have been raised over the four islands off Hokkaido, known as the Northern Territories in Japan and the Southern Kurils in Russia.
PHOTO: AFP
- Japan confirmed a UN-backed world map using the Equal Earth projection was corrected after disputed islands off Hokkaido were wrongly shown as Russian territory.
- The map initially coloured the Northern Territories like Russia, but after Japan's request, it was changed to Japan's colour in the Japanese version and neutral in English, with notes on administration and claims.
- Japan insists the islands were illegally seized by the Soviet Union in 1945 and will act to prevent territorial misconceptions, while the UN supports equal-area maps without endorsing specific versions.
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The Japanese government said on Sept 11 it has confirmed that a world map using a UN-encouraged projection method was “corrected” after asking the website operator to change the colour used for disputed islands off Hokkaido that had been depicted as Russian territory.
The map in question has been made available online by the developers of the Equal Earth map projection aimed at showing countries and continents at their true sizes relative to each other. It is among the mapping methods UN General Assembly voted last week to encourage worldwide.
Japan was among the many countries that supported the UN resolution amid an African-led campaign against the 16th-century Mercator projection that has been commonly used across the world and showed Africa to look relatively smaller.
But as the Equal Earth world map drew attention, questions have been raised over the four islands off Hokkaido, known as the Northern Territories in Japan and the Southern Kurils in Russia, which were coloured the same as the nearby Russian land.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara told a press conference on Sept 10 morning that the map “contained a depiction contradicting the Japanese government’s stance”, and that it had asked the operator of the site advocating the map to modify it through diplomatic missions abroad.
On Sept 11, Kihara said the map has been “corrected in a certain manner” in response to the government’s request.
The website showed the colour of the Northern Territories changed to the same as Japan from Russia in the Japanese version map, while the English version showed the islets in a neutral colour.
Both versions had an annotation saying, “Administered by Russia, claimed by Japan.”
Kihara has said the government should take “necessary actions” to prevent “misconceptions about our nation’s territory and geographical names from spreading”.
He also noted that the UN resolution is encouraging the use of equal-area maps when the relative size is important but that it is “not tied to a specific map, including the one on the website” in question.
Tokyo maintains that the island chain – consisting of Etorofu, Kunashiri, Shikotan and the Habomai islet group – was illegally seized by the Soviet Union soon after Japan’s surrender in World War II in 1945. Moscow argues the seizure was legitimate. KYODO NEWS