Senkaku Islands: Difference between revisions - Wikipedia

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==History under Japanese and US control==

[[File:Senkaku bonito.jpg|thumb|left|Japanese workers at a bonito fisheries processing plant on Uotsurishima sometime around 1910]]

The Japanese central government formerly annexed the islands on January 14, 1895. Around 1900, Japanese entrepreneur Tatsushiro Koga constructed a [[bonito]] processing plant on the islands with 200 workers. The business failed in 1940 and the islands have remained deserted ever since. The plots of land on the islands still technically belong as private property to Koga's descendants.{{Citation The islands were under US government occupation authority from 1945 until 1972.<ref>Kaneko, Maya, ([[Kyodo News]]) "[http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20101208f2.html Ishigaki fishermen fret over Senkaku encroachment]", ''[[Japan Times]]'', December 8, 2010, p. 3.</ref>needed}}

The islands were under US government occupation authority from 1945 until 1972.<ref>Kaneko, Maya, ([[Kyodo News]]) "[http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20101208f2.html Ishigaki fishermen fret over Senkaku encroachment]", ''[[Japan Times]]'', December 8, 2010, p. 3.</ref> Since the islands reverted back to Japanese government control in 1972, the mayor of Ishigaki washas been given civic authority over the territory. The Japanese central government, however, has prohibited Ishigaki from surveying or developing the islands.<ref>Kaneko, Maya, ([[Kyodo News]]) "[http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20101208f2.html Ishigaki fishermen fret over Senkaku encroachment]", ''[[Japan Times]]'', December 8, 2010, p. 3.</ref>

On December 17, 2010, Ishigaki declared January 14 as "Pioneering Day" to, in the city government's words, "more clearly demonstrate to the international community that the Senkaku Islands have been historically an integral part of Japanese territory." China condemned Ishigaki's actions and statements.<ref>[[Agence France-Presse]], "Senkaku memorial day riles China," ''[[Japan Times]]'', December 19, 2010, p. 1.</ref>{{Citation broken}}

==Geography==