Japan Plans To “Nationalize” 280 More “Ownership-Unknown” Islands

15 months after acquiring three disputed islands in the Senkakus, and amid growing tensions with the Chinese following tit-for-tat air-defense zones, Abe’s visit to the war-shrine, and public-opinion battles; Japan may have just cranked the rhetoric dial to 11. As Japan Times reports, the Japanese government will nationalize about 280 islands whose ownership is unknown out of the about 400 remote islands that serve as markers for determining Japan’s territorial waters.

Under the plan, announced Tuesday, the government will complete its search for the islands’ owners (which began in August) by June. This follows already tense warnings this evening from China that “Japan’s moving in a dangerous direction.”

It seems the Abe nationalism fears were not exaggerated.

Via Japan Times,

The government will nationalize about 280 islands whose ownership is unknown out of the about 400 remote islands that serve as markers for determining Japan’s territorial waters, the state minister for oceanic policy and territorial issues has announced.

Under the plan, announced Tuesday, the government will complete its search for the islands’ owners by June. Islands whose owners have not been tracked down by then will be registered on the national asset ledger.

The move aims to clarify the government’s intention to protect territories and territorial waters by designating remote islands as “important national territories,” and to reinforce the management of marine resources and national security.

The search for owners was started in August last year by the Headquarters for Ocean Policy, led by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

…

“Registering [remote islands] as Japan’s national assets would send a message that we intend to strengthen management of them,” Ichita Yamamoto, the state minister for oceanic policy and territorial issues, said at a press conference. “The government must accurately grasp the state of these remote islands.”

…

About 500 islands serve as the base points for establishing Japan’s territorial waters and exclusive economic zone. However, information about some of the islands, including their owners, has yet to be confirmed.