Issue of the naming of the Sea of Japan (Study in the Russian Federation):
Overview

From November 2006 to February 2007, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs conducted a study regarding the naming of the maritime region of the Sea of Japan on the maps published between the 17th and the 19th century which are stored at libraries and archives of ancient documents in the Russian Federation.

The study shows that of the 51 maps (PDF), 40 use some type of name for the region of the Sea of Japan, and of these, 72.5% or 29 maps, show the name Sea of Japan. Furthermore, it was revealed that of the 27 maps published while Japan was still under the policy of isolation, 63% or 17 maps, bear the name "Sea of Japan." In following with similar studies carried out in the United States, the United Kingdom, and France up to now, these findings reaffirmed that "the name of Sea of Japan became established in Europe and the U.S.A. from the beginning of the 19th century at a time when Japan was still under its policy of isolation, being unable to exert international influence."

(Note: The Republic of Korea (ROK) has asserted that "the name the Sea of Japan came into dominant as a result of Japan's imperialism and colonialism during the first half of the 20th century." The ROK cites the results of an independently implemented study of the 19 antique maps , which were created in the 18th and the 19th centuries, stored at the Russian State Library, the Russian State Archive of Ancient Documents, and the Russian State Naval Archive. According to this independent study, the ROK states a name is recorded for the region of the Sea of Japan on 19 maps, of which 10 maps, or 52.6% show the names related to the Republic of Korea such as "Sea of Korea" and "East Sea," and only 3 maps, or15.8% show the name Sea of Japan.)

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