Japan to put 280 remote islands under state control

TOKYO - The Japanese government plans to register as state property around 280 remote islands it sees as being within its territorial waters in a bid to strengthen management over them, a senior minister said Tuesday.

"The Japanese government plans to register the remote islands as part of its state property to enhance their management" Ichita Yamamoto, Minister for Ocean Policy and Territorial Issues, told a news conference.

The islands are among more than 400 remote islands, many of them unnamed by the Japanese government, that are deemed by the administration to define Japan's territorial waters.

Ichita said that nearly 100 of them have already been registered as state property as they form part of what Japan sees as its broader exclusive economic zone, in which Japan conducts marine explorations and other research activities, but conceded that a great deal about the islands was still "unknown."

"I've been criticized by some opposition party members for not yet having all the information on all the remote islands and I plan to speed up the project as much as possible and it is my strong wish that the survey be completed by June," Yamamoto said.

Yamamoto added that under Japanese law the 280 ownerless islands are property of the state and the registering of them as such will enable the government to effectively manage them.

Tuesday's announcement comes as Japan is embroiled in territorial disputes with neighboring countries including China and South Korea that have caused tensions in the regions to escalate and diplomatic ties to sour between Tokyo and Beijing and Tokyo and Seoul.

In September 2012 Japan unilaterally "nationalized" three of the Diaoyu Islands claimed by China in the East China Sea, sparking mass protests in China and the islands continue to be central to a maritime standoff and deteriorating diplomatic ties between both sides.