Japan Launches Ad Blitz to Drive Home Territorial Claims

Wall Street Journal ^ | September 13, 2012 | Yoree Koh

[JerseyanExile]

The Japanese government can’t say it enough: Takeshima is ours. Senkaku is ours. And the Northern Territories are ours too!

The territorial claims–which challenge those of South Korea, China and Russia, respectively–have been repeated like a broken record on nearly a daily basis. Domestic news organizations have devoted considerable ink and airtime to them as the tensions have brewed with neighbors. But in case you’ve been living under a rock during the last month, Japan has launched a blitz of media ads this week to drive the message home.

About 70 domestic newspapers will carry ads this week reasserting Japan’s claim to islands known as Takeshima at home, the Dokdo in South Korea, and the Liancourt Rocks to countries not party to the dispute. One ad ran just below the fold of the Tuesday front page of the Yomiuri Shimbun, the world’s largest circulating daily. “Now is the time to know the fundamentals about the Takeshima problem,” the bold-font headline declared.

The few lines of text explain how Japan’s historical claims date back at least to the mid-17th century, and how the islands were incorporated as part of Shimane prefecture in 1905.

The ads this week single out disputes with South Korea. But Japan is also juggling other territorial headaches. Ties with China took a turn for the worse this week after Japan announced plans to purchase a group of uninhabited islands in the East China Sea. The islands are controlled by Japan, which calls them the Senkaku, but claimed by China and Taiwan, which call them the Diaoyu.

While independent groups and even the Tokyo metropolitan government have purchased newspaper space to promote territorial claims in the past, this is believed to be the first media ad campaign by the central government.

[Viennacon]

Ads won’t stop the Chinese, you foolish Pokemon trainers! You have to get some guns out there!

[JerseyanExile]

I think they're trying to convince their own population of the importance of these islands.

[roadcat]

Maybe it would be a good time for Japan to move their nuclear waste to those uninhabited islands. Then if China or Korea tries to land people there, they’ll get toasted. Plus it would be a thought to mine the waters close to shore, unless they have plans to permanently post ships in those waters.

[Don Corleone]

Remember, their Constitution disavows war. Now what?

[roadcat]

Remember, their Constitution disavows war. Now what?

Yes, so what? Their "Self-Defense" forces are pretty impressive. And since Japan claims those islands as their own, and have taken care of them since at least 1972, it falls under self defense. Just because they say they won't make war, doesn't mean they won't defend themselves. Just saying...