East Sea Sea of Japan" for the Name of the Sea Surrounded by Korea, Japan and Russia
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.. East Sea Sea of Japan" for the name of the sea surrounded by Korea, Japan and Russia .. Mer de lEst Mer du Japon » pour Ie nom de la mer entouree par la Coree, Ie Japon et la Russle LI Jin-Mieung <",IIIIJl) (Professor, Un_a lyon 3, France) Abstract A double name such as '\( %~ Vi$ ~~-aR B Tin! I East Sea Sea of Japan / Mer de lEst Mer du Japan '"' for the sea surrounded by Korea, Japan and Russia, is much more appropriate for the use oC international organizations such as the United Nations and the International Hydrographic Organization ; for the use of cartographers, geographers, officers of the Navy, sailors, scholars, and the general public, instead of « 'il ~!t B*_ / Sea of Japan / Mer du Japon ». The reason is very simple. The North~Westem Coast of the Japanese archipelago, from Honshu to Hokkaido, fonns the Eastern border of the sea surrounded by Korea, Japan and Russia, SO called .. <:ij~8I B*_ Nihonkai / Sea of Japan / Mer du Japan » throughout the world since the beginnini of the 19th century, except in Korea and with rare foreign cartoa;raphers 'and scholars. The Japanese Coast is lonver, but inhabited, from ShimonekiCHli to WakkanaHlfIi'l>, by only 5 or 6 million people. But alona with the Korean Peninsular, its Eastern Coast which constitutes the Western border of the sea in question, from Pusan ( ~ llJ) to NajinC.Iiilif!:), is inhabited by about 9 or 10 million people, nearly twice as many as the people living on the Japanese Coast. These Koreans have called. and call the sea to; %-aQ Jf(lftf Tonghae / East Sea / Mer de JEst ~ since Antiquity. They know no other name. They see the sea every day, and live there as city-dwellers, workers, fanners, fishennen, tourists. Telling them that they live on the Coast of the to; Sea of Japan » is an insult or a provocation, all the more so because the Koreans maintain a certain di stance from the Japanese because of the unfortunate past of Japanese domination of Korea 0910-1945). Traditionally the geographical name is fixed or adopted by the common use of the term by the people. The to; Sea of Japan / Mer du J8.lXln .. is a name which was given by Western navigators, explorers, cartographers, geographers, historians, at the - 62- end of the 18th century. Later, Japan and other countries adopted this name, ignoring the name used by the majority of inhabitants at the seaside, in particular the Koreans. Geographical names can be changed for different reasons. The name of the sea surrounded by Korea, Japan and Russia ought to be changed out of respect for the large majority of the people who live aJoni the coast, to a double name « %-0-. 3t!ifIl Tonghae ~~.. 8 "'1fO N;honkai / East Sea Sea of Japan / Mer de lEst Mer du Japon » instead of « Sea of Japan / Mer du Japon )10. [Projection of ancient and modem maps, western and oriental, as demonstrations'] - 63- Everywhere in the world, except Korea, the name Sea of Japan is used for the sea SUlTOUnded by Korea, Japan and Russia. In a Korean point of view, this poses many problems. Although three riverside countries must share this sea for their territorial waters, exclusive economic zones, fishing, maritime activities, leisure activities, and just far life. The name of the sea actually used is a reference to only one of the three countries. Especially for Koreans, the use of the name Sea of Japan written beside the Korean Peninsula by cartographers, geographers, historians, hydrographic department of many countries, the International Hydrographic Organization atld the western media, generates an unpleasant connotation, because it insinuates that they live on the coast of the Sea of Japan (japan Sea) or a sea which is the property of Japan, and all the more so because the Koreans are not yet ready to forget the period of colonization of their country by Japan (1910-]945). The name of Japan Sea which is written close to the Korean Peninsula on the maps produces a rejection or frustrated reaction among the Korean people. The geoaraphical name is one thing, and the relations between neighboring countries is another. In a strict perspective of human geography, the large majority of the people, nearly 10 million, who live on this seaside are Koreans. In return, only 6 million Japanese live on the other side of the sea. These Koreans ignore the name Sea of Japan. They called and call this sea the East Sea (Tonghae) from the beginning. Consequently, it is time to take in account the name used by the majority of the inhabitants living on this seaside. The historical penpective The ieKitimacy of the Koreans request is also valid in a hi storical perspective. Before we mention the different names given on ancient maps, it is necessary to define the sea in Question. We define ,it from the part which extends from the Strait of Korea to the Gulf of Tartary ; from the Strait of Korea to the western coast of the north of Hokkaido and the island of Sakhaline. The sea is about 9(M) miles (1 700 km) long, N.N.E. and S.S.W, and 600 miJes (9(M) km) wide, east and west, at its broadest part. Our definition of the sea in this study is different from that of IHO adopted in HYlJ.[1] The name Sea of Japan is due neither ta Japanese nor to Asians. In Asia, seas were traditionally not given names. It was just called the sea (hli in Chinese, pada in Korean, urni in Japanese). If it was located eastwards, it was called the east sea, and if it was located westwards, it was called the west sea. This is the reason why there are - 64- ~0' -- hardly any names for seas on ancient Asiatic maps. On the Map of Korea inserted in the maps of the Empire of China (~jI{~.III, ffwangyu Quanlan-tu) completed in 1717, only the Sino-Korean character hoi (sea) can be read.[2] :, The name of the sea, in this case the Sea of Japan which has been universally used except in Korea since the beginning of the 19th century for the sea surrounded by Korea, Japan and Russia, was given by Western explorers, mariners, geographers. cartographers and historians. Before then, everyone had given a name of his own to this sea, a name as geographical landmark. The Korean name Toni"hae ( }tOf~, East Sea) appecired for the first time on the Korean General Map of Eight Provinces (Paldo chongdo), enclosure of a geographical document titled Shinjung Tangguk Yoji SUIlgnaTn UJitttJtHII!IIt:l$I*IJt) compiled by So Ko-l ong whose first manuscript was achieved in 1481. A part of these maps, among which the Pa/do clwngdo, passed on to us, dates from 1530. On this map, the name Tonghae (East Sea) is written on the part of land near the eastern coast of the KangwOn province.[3] In the 17th century, Western geographers and cartographers gave various types of name to the sea surrounded by Korea, Japan and Russia. At that time, geographical knowledge remained Quite inaccurate. The Korean Peninsula was still drawn as an island and the counter-line of Hokkaido, Sakhaline and Kuriles Islands was vague. In this period of uncertainty, the name of • Sea of Japan )0 would have been used for the first time by the famous Italian Jesuit missionary in China, Matteo Ricci, in 1602 on his Map of the World (i$JlU-';ill iitlll, 179 x 414 cm). The name Sea of Korea seems to have been used for the first time in the West, by Gordinho de Heredia. a Portuguese geographer in 1615 on his map of Asia.(4) Since that period, many names were used for this sea in North-East Asia (5] I) Mer de co,~ (Sea of Korea) or Ochul OrlmJ41 (Oriental Oun) Me, de CM6t (Sea of Komi) by Gordinho de Heredia in 1615 and 1622, by Sir Robert Dudley in 1661, Mer de Cort!t! (Sea of Korea) or Ochut Or/Drtat (Orlutal Ocean) by Jean-Baptiste Tavernier in 1679 and 1697. 2) Oc~If OTlottll (Oriental <kean) or Mer OTlutah (Oriental Sea) by Philippe Brict in 1640, 1650, 1658 and 1676, by Nicolas Sanson in 1650, 1652 and 1662, by Pierre du Val in 1661, on an anonymous map in 1676, by Sanson dAbbeville and Jean~Bape:iste Tavernier in 1679 and 1697, by Alain Manesson~Mallet in 1683. 3) Mer d~ lEst (East Se.) and Octmt St!ptmtrlolfttt (Septentrional Ocean), M~T de Cort!t! - 65- (Sea of Korea) ..d Oc6ln Boreal du Jap"n (Boreal Ocea. of J.p.a) Mer de Cor~ (Sea of Korea) aDd OC6J1I Borl:al du Japon (Boreal Oce.. of Japan) by Sir Robert Dudley in 1646, 1647 and 1661, Mer Orientale (Orieetal Sea) or Mer dM Japo" (Sea of JllpU) by Nicolas Witsen in 1692 and 1698, 4) Mer dIt JIIpOII (Sea of Japu), Mer Occit/nuGle lIM JtlfHJIf (OtcideRtil .sea of J_paa) and Ochut 80rhll .. Jilpolf (Boreal <kaIo of Japan) Mer tIM JtIpOII (Sea of Japan) by Matteo Ricci in 1602, by Christophos Blancus in 1617, by Joannes Janssonius in 1648. by Gabriele Buccelinius in 1658, OciJan Bo,6111 dll JIIp01I (Boreal Ocean of Japllo) by Bernadino Ginnaro in 1641, Mer (kclUlIlIM tbI JIIpDII (Occidental Sea of Japan) by P. Schenki in 1700, 5) Mer tie CJdne (Sa of Cbina) or Oc6Dt Chlnols (CbiDCSe Ocean) by J. Jansson in 1650 and 1659, Joannes Janssonius in 1658, Fredcrik Bouttats in 1663, 6) Mer de Chine (Sea of cali ..) .ad 0cHII Oriental «kean Oricatal) by Vincenzo Coronelli in 1692 ; DcIA" Orlenttll I"die" (Indian Oriental Sea) by Johann Ulrich MUlier in 1692.