It turns out the Japanese Coast Guard had last surveyed the islet in 1987, and it was known to be around 4½ feet above sea level.īut now it can’t be seen from land at all. That’s when he reached out to Sarufutsu’s village fishery to ask where it might be. He wanted to visit Esanbehanakitakojima as part of a follow-up book project, but the Japanese newspaper reported that he just couldn’t find it. Hiroshi Shimizu, an author who published a picture book about Japanese islands, was the one who reported that the islet wasn’t where it’s supposed to be. The Japanese Coast Guard is apparently planning to search for the islet, called Esanbehanakitakojima, about one-third of a mile away from Sarufutsu, a village on Hokkaido island. All rights reserved.Japan has a lot of uninhabited islands, about 158 of which the government named in 2014 to ensure that the water around them continues to belong to Japan.īut now, one of those islets has disappeared, Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun reported this week. ™ & © 2018 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company.
Japan also has a long-running territorial dispute with China over the Senkaku/Diaoyu islands in the East China Sea. If Esanbehanakitakojima has sunk beneath the waves, Japan will lose 500 meters of territorial waters. “There is a possibility that the islet has been eroded by wind and snow and, as a result, disappeared,” Tomoo Fujii, a senior coast guard official, told Asahi Shimbun. Beneath the waves?Īccording to international law, nations can only claim waters around islands that are visible above the sea surface at high tide.Ī 1987 survey showed that Esanbehanakitakojima protruded 1.4 meters above sea level, and a 1988 sea chart from the Geospatial Information Authority of Japan described it as an islet. Mindoro: A Social History of a Philippine Island in the 20th Century. In 2014, the Japanese government officially named 158 uninhabited islands to demarcate its waters. Known to Russians as the Kurils, the islands were taken over by Soviet forces shortly after the end of the World War II. However, other fishermen said that Esanbehanakitakojima shows up as an islet on navigation systems.Īuthorities are concerned about its whereabouts as the islet is used to mark Japanese territorial waters in the Northern Territories, an area that is also claimed by Russia. An elderly local confirmed that there used to be an island in the vicinity, according to Asahi Shimbun, but it can no longer be seen from land or from nearby boats. Puzzled, Shimizu asked local fishermen what had happened. Its absence was noticed by author Hiroshi Shimizu, who produced a picture book on hidden islands and had traveled to the area in search of inspiration. The small outcrop was previously found some 500 meters off a village called Sarufutsu on the northern tip of Hokkaido island, Japanese daily Asahi Shimbun reports. However the Japan Coast Guard is planning a search mission after an uninhabited islet called Esanbehanakitakojima seemingly disappeared off the northern coast of the country. (CNN) - On a bad day, you might lose your wallet or keys, but it’s a lot harder to lose an entire islet. Business & Finance Click to expand menu.
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