The head of a museum in Tokyo dedicated to reinforcing Japan’s claims to territories disputed by three neighbouring countries has played down demands from the South Korean government for its “immediate closure”.
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Seoul’s demand centred around the long-standing row between the two East Asian neighbours over two rocky islets, referred to as Takeshima in Japan and Dokdo in South Korea, with the National Museum of Territory and Sovereignty showcasing the islets as under Japanese jurisdiction.
Kozo Ishino, who is overseeing the museum after its reopening on April 18, said the exhibition “was established as a hub for disseminating accurate information, both domestically and internationally, regarding Japan’s position on its territory”.
Initially opened in 2018, the museum moved to its present location in the Kasumigaseki district of ministries in central Tokyo in 2020. In the intervening years, an estimated 55,000 people have visited the museum and Ishino hoped that a 730 million yen (US$5.1 million) renovation would attract more people to learn about Japan’s position on territories currently either occupied or claimed by other countries, he said.
The museum, which comes under the Cabinet Secretariat, had not received any direct complaints from foreign embassies in Tokyo, Ishino told This Week in Asia. It had also not received any threats, he added – although a security guard has been stationed at the main entrance.
On the same day as the museum’s reopening, South Korean foreign ministry spokesman Lee Jae-woong told reporters in Seoul: “The South Korean government strongly protests the Japanese government’s reopening of the museum, which is aimed at promoting its unjust claims over Dokdo, and we urge its immediate closure.
“Dokdo is clearly our inherent territory, historically, geographically and under international law,” Lee said. “Japan must realise that continuing to make unjust claims to Dokdo does nothing to help develop bilateral relations in a future-oriented manner.”
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