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[email protected]). Citation: Japan's Territories Series, Japan Digital Library (March 2018) http://www2.jiia.or.jp/en/digital_library/japan_s_territories.php Survey of Yaeyama by Antei Tashiro and Survey of Senkaku Islands by Okinawa Prefecture in 1885* Makomo Kuniyoshi * ABSTRACT The Senkaku Islands were incorporated into Japanese territory on January 14, 1895 pursuant to a Cabinet decision by the Hirobumi Ito government. The decision came 10 years after the 1885 survey of the islands by Okinawa Prefecture. The writer’s intention of this paper is to examine why Okinawa Prefecture conducted its survey in 1885, as well as to trace the life of Antei Tashiro, who conducted a comprehensive survey of the Yaeyama Islands at exactly the same time. SUMMARY The Senkaku Islands were known among sailors as a landmark on East China Sea voyages for many years before their incorporation into Japanese territory. More recently, the 1968 report of a possible seabed oil deposit in 1968 has spurred debate among the key figures in Japan and China on territorial rights to the islands, but ultimately there is no doubt in that they were terra nullius prior to 1895.