Newsletter

Q

On February 22, 2013, Japan held the Takeshima (竹島, Japanese name of Dokdo) Day event, attended by a deputy minister-level senior official, a blatant expression of its ambition for Dokdo. How did Japan come to adopt what they call 'Takeshima Day,' and what does it imply? And how should we deal with it?

A

The First 'Takeshima Day'

On February 22, 2006, the first 'Takeshima Day' event was held, organized by Shimane Prefecture of Japan. As a member of the 'Dokdo Measures' Team under the 'Truthful History Task Force for Peace in Northeast Asia.' I had arrived at Yonago Airport in Shimane Prefecture the day before the event, along with two coworkers, with the mission of observing the event Our arrival hadn't been smooth, as our party, including a few representatives of Dokdo-related civil-society groups who had also flown in by the same flight as us, had been taken to the entry investigation room for questioning, simply because we hadn't filled in the 'Place of Stay' in the arrival report form. We had been detained for about three hours.
The next day, on the 22nd, the first ''Takeshima' Day' event was held from 1 pm. According to the press report (Feb. 22 Mainich Shimbun article), the citizens who attended the event were no more than 250 people. I felt that the event was so small and insignificant for the one that had shocked and outraged the Korean government and people. When the event had a break, the party of participants from Korea was segregated for protection by the police, to be led back to the venue once the event resumed. No one from the Japanese government attended the event. The 'Defenders of Takeshima' had been conducting street demonstrations since February 20, but the event ended without any conflicts between them and the Korean press or civil-society groups.

What 'Takeshima Day' Means in Japan

'Takeshima Day' is a celebration of February 22, 1905, the day when, by a cabinet meeting decision, the island (Dokdo) known as 'Liancourt Rocks' in Japan, was named 'Takeshima (竹島)' and placed under the jurisdiction of Shimane Prefecture. On February 23, 2005, thirty-five out of thirty-eight members of the Shimane Prefectural Assembly submitted a bill for the designation of Takeshima Day. The bill was passed by the General Affairs Committee on March 10th, then approved in the Shimane Prefectural Assembly general meeting on March 16, and the ordinance was promulgated on March 25th. On May 24th of the same year, the Shimane Prefectural Assembly created the 'Takeshima Research Center,' which would have four meetings by October 25th. On June 27th, they proposed 'a government organization dealing with issues related to Takeshima' and 'a museum of historical records on Takeshima,' and submitted the proposal as an official request to the central government on the 29th. On October 7th, the same request was sent to then Defense Minister Hosoda Hiroyuki (細田博之) and Chairman of LDP's Policy Research Council Yosano Gaoru (與謝野馨) among others. And on June 27th, it was suggested that middle schools within Shimane Prefecture should adopt 'textbooks that described history related to Takeshima, how Takeshima was inherent Japanese territory, and marked Takeshima' for the 2006 school year. Consequently, on September 1st, the textbook by Tokyo Shoseki that included a description of 'Takeshima' was selected as the civics textbook to be used in middle schools and special schools within Shimane Prefecture. Some schools also selected Tokyo Shoseki's textbook that included a description of 'Takeshima' as their geography textbook.

The Significance of the 8th 'Takeshima Day'

On February 22, 2013, the 8th 'Takeshima Day' event was held. It was attended by Shimariji Aiko (島尻安伊子), the cabinet official in charge of maritime policy/territorial issues. It became the first 'Takeshima Day' event ever attended by a government official. The previous events had been attended by lawmakers, those from Shimane Prefecture or the 'active parliamentary group for defending Japanese territory,' but never by government officials. Ever since the 1st 'Takeshima Day' event, Shimane Prefecture had been looking forward to seeing the attendance of any government officials.
And their wish came true this time. Recently, the Abe Shinzo (安倍晋三) administration announced its decision to establish within the Cabinet Secretariat a 'Planning and Coordination Office for Territory/Sovereignty Measures' dedicated to dealing with the territorial issues of Dokdo, the Senkaku Islands (Diaoyudao in Chinese), and the Kuril Islands (known in Japan as the Four Northern Islands). This is another wish come true, nine years after the Shimane Prefectural Assembly made the request to the government in 2005. For Shimane Prefecture, the '8th Takeshima Day' must be a 'significant and pleasant' event celebrating their 9-year-old wish come true.

The Development of 'Takeshima Day'

On November 15, 2003, two years before the Shimane Prefectural Assembly enacted the 'ordinance designating February 22nd as Takeshima Day,' the 'Shimane rally campaigning for the restitution of Takeshima and the Northern Territories' was held in Shimane Prefecture. This rally had been held for five times from 1988 to 1997 before it was suspended. And it was resumed in 2003: 1) in reaction to the South Korean government's recent move to turn 'Takeshima' into a national park and give it a postal code'; 2) to sway public opinion for the establishment of territorial rights to 'Takeshima,' including the establishment of the parliamentary group within the Shimane Prefectural Assembly for the establishment of territorial rights to 'Takeshima'; and 3) to remind the people of the national campaigns all over the country.' The 'campaigns for the restitution of sovereign rights to Takeshima,' including Shimane Prefecture's designation of 'Takeshima Day,' can be traced back to the national campaigns for the restitution of the Northern Territories, areas in dispute with Russia. In 1960, Miyagi Prefecture set up a prefectural council dealing with the the Northern Territories issues. Over the next twenty years, other prefectures followed suit. Shimane Prefecture was the last to set up such a council in 1987, and it would host the 'Shimane rally campaigning for the restitution of Takeshima and the Northern Territories' in 1988. In the process, national campaigns for the restitution of the 'Northern Territories' started flaring up from 1975. Civil-society groups issued a resolution calling for the 'designation of Northern Territories Day.' In 1980, not only civil-society groups but local governments across the country made 'a resolution to expedite the resolution of the Northern Territories issues' including the 'designation of Northern Territories Day.' Against this backdrop, the Japanese government began considering the designation of 'Northern Territories Day.' Finally, on January 6, 1981, the Cabinet resolved to designate February 7th as Northern Territories Day. Shimane Prefecture's 'campaigns for the restitution of sovereign rights to Takeshima' and 'Takeshima Day' are eagerly following the footsteps of the 'campaigns for the restitution of sovereign rights to the Northern Territories and 'Northern Territories Day.'

What Should Korea Do About It?

It should be remembered that Korea and Japan have different positions. Shimane Prefecture's activities relating to sovereign rights to 'Takeshima' are primarily for the Japanese people and their government. The basic premise here is that few Japanese citizens were aware that 'Takeshima' was Japanese territory. In Korea, however, everyone, even a very young child, knows that Dokdo is Korean territory. In Japan, many say that 'Takeshima' is not Japanese territory. By contrast, there is no Korean who denies that Dokdo is Korean territory. Then it becomes clear for whom Korea's Dokdo-related activities should be conducted: first, the Japanese people, and then the people of third countries. However, given close observation, one can see that a majority of Dokdo-related promotion and education programs recently organized by educational institutions and civil-society groups as well as government offices are for the Korean people. In other words, a large amount of money from the public coffers is being spent on promoting and educating about Korea's sovereign right to Dokodo for the Korean people who are already well aware that Dokdo is Korean territory and passionate about defending the island. Unless we want to let 'Takeshima Day' of Shimane Prefecture turn into a national event like 'Northern Territories Day,' we might first need to review Dokdo-related activities in Korea from different angles.