Heat Back on for Japan - China Relations? Guest Post: Tokyo Could be About to Get Bigger by Imogen Reed

   Senkaku or Diaoyou Islands?

Shintaro Ishihara, the much beloved governor of Tokyo, has managed to raise 76 million yen in just five days since launching his crusade to purchase the Senkaku Islands. These donations have come from around 5,500 people across Japan and work out at about a million US dollars. Ishihara’s plan, however, is likely to provoke an international and regional storm as many believe the islands are not Japan’s to sell or buy.

An alternative title for this article could have been “A Game of Rocks,” but that was buying a little too much into a popular TV show. It is, however, quite apt when you think about it. The history of the Senkaku Islands are not long, but they are murky. It is this lack of clarity and agreement that have caused the problems. It is far less clear than other territorial disputes such as the Falkland Islands. It is also one of several island-based disputes involving Japan. The others being the Liancourt Rocks (Takeshima/Dokdo) and the South Kuril Islands (Chishima Retto).

The Senkaku Islands a group of islands north of Ishigaki Island in the Yaeyama archipelago south of Okinawa, and east of Taiwan. The Yaeyamas are a beautiful range of islands with their own culture and language. They had, however, little to do with the Senkaku Islands, which are so remote they would require courier international services to communicate.  Geographically speaking, the Senkakus are a group of five islands named Uotsuri (Diaoyu), Kuba (Huangwei), Taisho (Chiwei), Minami Kojima (Nan Xiaodao), Kita Kojima (Bei Xiaodao) and three rocks. They are currently uninhabited by humans, but are home to some rare species such as the Okinawa-kuro-oo-ari ant, short-tailed albatross and the Senkaku mole.  

Legal disputes arose in 1951 with the nullification of the Treaty of Shimonoseki and the signing of the Treaty of San Francisco between Japan and the Allied Powers. The treaty states that Japan relinquishes control of territories that are not historically part of Japan. Though it did allow Japan to keep the Ryukyu and Yaeyama Islands, which were not historically part of Japan until the 19th century.

Taiwan and China, the latter claiming the islands on behalf of a Greater China, believe they were only signed over by the Treaty of Shimonoseki as part of the territory of Formosa (Taiwan) and should therefore be returned. This is where it gets very Japanese and murky. In 1885 Okinawa’s Governor, Nishimura Sutezo, suggested they take the islands, but Foreign Minister Inoue Kaoru argued they must be Chinese as they had Chinese names and had been claimed in a Chinese newspaper. When at war with China during the First Sino-Japanese War they decided as there were no settlements on the island, they could be termed uninhabited and therefore uncontrolled.

Since then, one of the islands was used as a bonito canning factory until the company went bust in 1940. After that, the islands have been rented by the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications from the owners of the business, the Koga family. They have been administered by the Ishigaki Island government, patrolled by the coastguard, but no one is allowed to set foot on the islands. The reason for this is unknown.

This brings us back to Ishihara’s plan. Under Japanese law, the islands are owned by the Koga family who now live in Saitama. He has been told that if he can raise 200 million yen by the end of the year, he can purchase the islands on behalf of Tokyo. This would make Tokyo the biggest prefecture in terms of distance between its constituent parts. In order to finalise the agreement, Japanese law states that the metropolitan assembly must approve the purchase as the islands are larger than 20,000 square meters in size.

While Ishihara’s move seems to have the approval of Japanese Prime Minister, Yoshihiko Noda, experts are warning that the Mayor’s moves can only inflame tensions over the territory. China and Taiwan have already criticised the move. A Foreign Ministry spokesman said that “the Diaoyou Islands have been China’s inherent territory since ancient times.”

Regardless of who buys the land, the ownership of the islands will not be decided until the three nations make an actual agreement.

Imogen Reed is a full-time professional writer and researcher.

Westerners Sign Their Lives Away, Easterners Stamp Their Lives Away - Best Souveniers in Japan

"A signatures always reveals a man's character - and sometimes even his name." - Evan Esar

"Art is the signature of civilizations." - Beverly Sills

"You utter a vow or forge a signature and you may find yourself bound for life to a monastery, a woman or a prison." - Bronislaw Malinowski

Yesterday I went to Yokohama to visit Chinatown to make a "Hanko." A Hanko is also called a "Seal" sometimes and is a personal stamp that is used in many East Asian countries like Japan, China, Taiwan, Korea and Vietnam. What a person's handwritten signature is to a westerner, the Hanko is to the people living in these East Asian countries.

The Hanko is used, like a signature, to prove that you approved any sort of document, art, office paperwork, contracts and things like that. The big difference between a signature in the west and a Hanko in the east is that for a Hanko to be recognized as "official" it must be registered at a local government office. So having your Hanko stamp on something is pretty serious business here.

As with signatures, people are supposed to only have one. So most people only have one Hanko. Every company, too, has a Hanko. Different from signatures that are written differently every time because they are by hand, the Hanko stamp is the same every time. Because signatures vary a lot it seems that there is much more fraud with forged signatures in the west - but I could be wrong about that. 

Everyone in Japan has a Hanko and even lots of kids do too!

As I mentioned, I went to Chinatown to make a Hanko for a new project I am working on. Call me weird but I do believe in luck. After all, I know everyone makes their own luck, right? And, when you feel lucky, you are lucky. So whenever I want to start off on the right foot I want to feel lucky so I make the sojourn to Chinatown in Yokohama to see my friend Tei Hei.

Tei Hei creating one-of-a-kind art

Tei Hei is a cool Chinese guy and he makes the most awesome hand carved Hanko stamps that you've ever seen and he makes them right there in front of your eyes. He is so awesome and his art is so fantastic that he's been featured on many TV programs all over Japan! Tei san uses one of those hobby drills (kind of like a dentist drill) to make personalized Hanko and the artwork is awesomely breathtaking... The speed with which he completes the task is incredible!

The art is etched into the cellphones and smart phones... 

Those aren't stickers, they're etchings!

Tei san also makes some fantastic designs on your cellphones and smart phones to give them that one of a kind personalization. I think those are really cool and want to do that, but I've already dropped my cellphone in the toilet by accident twice so I am a bit hesitant to do that (probably my wife would kill me!)... Have never once dropped my Hanko in the toilet though so my wife doesn't mind me buying a Hanko - a piece of art - that will last a lifetime.

The prices for the Hanko, including stone and artwork, start at an amazingly low ¥2,000 each. I got this one made on onyx stone for ¥3,500. It is beautiful!

I highly recommend Tei san for anyone needing a Hanko or for anyone looking for the best souvenir deal in Japan. Think about it, you can go to any souvenir shop in Japan and spend ¥2,000 on trinkets, key chains and junk (made in China), but where could you buy a one-of-a-kind, only one in the entire world, Hanko with your name on it as a memorial for your trip to Japan? Or, for gifts for your friends back home?

This is Tei Hei's Hanko stand.

Tei san makes the best souvenirs for the price you'll ever see! 

Tei's "shop" is right on the street on the main street through Yokohama's Chinatown. His stand is on Chukka-gai O-dori in front of "Hana Ryu" restaurant. If you go there, copy this address and show it to someone. It's actually easy to find:

丁平　(テイ　ヘイ）

横浜市中区山下町151 (横浜中華街大通り華龍飯店前です)

  

The address in English is:

Tei Hei

Yamashita Cho 151,

Naka-ku, Yokohama

Tel: 080-3083-2802 (I don't know if he speaks English! - Sorry!)

His web page is here: http://www.geocities.jp/cctv13jp/

When you go see Tei Hei san, you tell him the name you want... 

Explain if it is a family name or company. If it is a company, what

kind of business?

There are over 8,000 Chinese Kani and Tei Hei is an expert. He will find 

you the right combination for your name to convey, luck, health and prosperity... 

Then he will write it for you on paper.... 

When you agree, he'll state the price and if you agree, he's off....

It is simply amazing at how beautifully done and fast he makes 

these wonderful Hanko and keepsakes!

Thanks Tei Hei! Five stars for one of the best things to do in Chinatown and a memory that lasts forever!

World War Two Historical Revisionism - Were Japanese Soldiers in China the Animals We Have Been Taught to Believe They Were?

"History is written by the victors" - Winston Churchill


There is much historical revisionism going on today, especially in the USA. I think it is good. Through this revisionism we have learned the truth about a great many things that, through, the historical record have been greatly distorted to make the victors in war look innocent.

Japanese officer Yasuyuki Hashimoto now 95-years old and my 

friend. Read his interesting story here.

I think the best book ever written on the subject concerning American History is by Thomas Woods and it is entitled, "The Politically Incorrect Guide to American History." It was in that book that I first learned that the so-called US Civil War was not a war fought to free the slaves at all, it was a war about taxation. Simply put, even some Northern States had slavery even two years after the war had started so, if the war were about slavery, then how come two Northern states still had slaves?


And, when you stop to think about it, when has the USA ever gone to war to protect the rights of dark-skinned people? I'd have to say "Never!"


Over the years, after World War II ended, the Japanese army has definitely been painted as a bunch of savage animals committing atrocities in China. Many of these atrocities are undeniable as war, in and of itself, is an atrocity... But was it as bad as we were lead to believe?


I have always wondered about this. I have also wondered if, sometimes, the governments of China and the Koreas have sometimes seemingly use Japan as a whipping boy to divert attention from domestic problems.


There is another thing that has always confused me and, if you ever go to Taiwan, it will confuse you too. Get this, most all of the older Taiwanese like the Japanese and speak Japanese. The Japanese built the roads, tunnels, bridges, hospitals.... Bear with me for a second here... If the Japanese did that in Taiwan China, then why would policy be so different in Mainland China? Or did we have some sort of blame game going on between the communists of Mao Tse Tung and the Nationalists of Chiang Kai-Shek?


Just questions I'm asking, folks. Just questions. Just something to ponder.


Here is a video that I stumbled upon of pictures and postcards sent from mainland China in the late 1930s and early 1940s. What do you think of this?

Watch the video and decide for yourself.   


NOTE: I especially find the shot at about 0:54 of the video where the Japanese soldiers are respectfully putting a Chinese flag over a fallen statue of Sun Yat-sen the former president of China who died about 13 years before this photo was taken to be a complete contrast to the savage and staged destruction of Saddam Hussein's statue by US military forces in Iraq in 2003.