TEXTBOOK CONTRADICTS JAPAN’S CLAIM

[Anchor Lead]

The Japanese government has approved new school textbooks claiming Japan's sovereignty over the Dokdo islets. A Japanese textbook dating to the 19th century says nothing about Japan's territorial claims over the islets.

[Pkg]

This Japanese middle school textbook with an atlas was published in 1897. In the textbook's section on Shimane prefecture, the Dokdo islets are nowhere to be seen. The Shimane prefecture is where the Japanese government has repeatedly claimed to include the Dokdo islets as their own. It's not marked on this map. Geography textbooks published in the same year do not mention Dokdo, either.

[Soundbite] Hong Sung-keun(Northeast Asian History Foundation) : "The part about the Oki islets (in close vicinity to Dokdo) does not mention anything about the Dokdo islets."

An elementary geography textbook published by Japan's Ministry of Education, Science and Culture in 1904 does not mark Dokdo either.

[Soundbite] "(Where is Dokdo located?) Dokdo should be around here. (But it's not marked there.) It's not."

Japanese modern-day textbooks claim Japan's territorial rights over the Dokdo islets. However, textbooks that were published in the past say nothing in line with the modern day argument. In another map of Japan published by Yomiuri Shimbun, approved in 1952, when Japan first claimed sovereignty over Dokdo, again... the islets are not marked.

[Soundbite] Hong Sung-keun(Northeast Asian History Foundation) : "This shows that Japan did not think of Dokdo as its own territory in the past. The private sector thought the same way."

These materials were discovered by an elementary school teacher from Gangwon-do Province and donated to the Northeast Asian History Foundation.

[Soundbite] Lee Hyun(Elementary School Teacher(donated discovered materials)) : "School textbooks represent the government's stance of the time and also the shared public awareness on issues of the time."

The foundation plans to set up archives dedicated to the Dokdo islets.