A history of the Senkaku Islands

This chapter provides a brief overview of the islands and discusses the early history of the Senkaku Islands, including references to the islands in both Chinese and Japanese records. Although there are numerous references to the Senkaku Islands in Chinese materials, China did not demonstrate an actual administration over the islands. Thus, this chapter focuses on Japan’s careful and cautious incorporation of the islands in the late 1800s and looks in detail at the development of the islands by a Japanese businessman after having been granted a lease to the islands following the incorporation of the islands into Japan. It also examines the various official and unofficial surveys of the islands in the prewar period.