From: hito@is.s.u-tokyo.ac.jp (OMORI Naohito)
Subject: Re: Sea of East, Korea, Japan.
Followup-To: soc.culture.korean,soc.culture.japan
Organization: Information Science Dept., Tokyo University
	<Bwzwo5.3uC@news.cso.uiuc.edu>
	<XAVIER.92Nov4201358@kuee.kuee.kyoto-u.ac.jp>
	<Bx7v42.711@news.cso.uiuc.edu>
	<XAVIER.92Nov6154146@kuee.kuee.kyoto-u.ac.jp>
Date: Tue, 10 Nov 1992 15:11:30 GMT


In article <XAVIER.92Nov6154146@kuee.kuee.kyoto-u.ac.jp>
xavier@kuee.kyoto-u.ac.jp (Yuji KOMATSU) writes:

>  |A map has been found lately showing what the truth is.
>  |That is a map which was published by professor Antonio Jata in 1777 under 
>  |the sponsorship of the Venetian Senate in Italy.
>  |It is called "Complete Atlas of Asia".
>  |It clearly describes the sea as 'MARE DI COREA (Sea of Korea)".
>  |(All the English names above are my translation.
>  |I mean, I don't know what the offical ones are.)
>  |If you don't trust me, please ask Korean Naval Academy.
>  |I think they have it.
...
> How precise is the map you mentioned ?  The coastlines of Korea
> Peninsula and Japan Islands are correct ?  Did professor Antonio Jata
> visit and survey `The Sea' by himself ?
> 

If people are talking from the historical point of view, I think we had
better go back to the map printed and published in 1602 by Matteo Ricci,
a Jesuit missionary, who had been in China since 1592.
In that map, he clearly called the sea "Nihonkai(Japan sea)".
(He described the map in Chinese.)


And, as for other maps after Matteo Ricci, I can talk about some of them
from the book, "OLD WORLD MAPS: AKIOKA COLLECTION" (Kawadeshobo, 1988).
they call the sea:

  "MER DU JAPON", J.B.Nolin (in "L'ASIE"), 1704
  "MARE JAPONICUM OCCIDENTALE", Homann, 1720?
  "JAPANISCHEN MEER", A.L. von Krusenstern, 1815
  ...
  "Meerbusen(?) von Korea"(sorry, hard to recognize), Schneider, 1793

yes, there is a map in which the sea is called after Korea, though this
case looks rather exceptional (I mean, in European world) to me.


So,

seo@capone.ccsm.uiuc.edu (Jong-Wook Seo) writes:

> As far as I remember, Japan changed the name to 'Sea of Japan' after the 
> war against Russia.
> (Actually, I am not sure exactly when they did.
> But, it is around that time.)
...
> Let me tell you something.
> 
> Before the 19th century, it had been called 'Sea of Korea" in the world.
> As you mentioned, you, the Japanese people, didn't have any proper name 
> for it.
> But, we had, and we have cared it much.
> So, we have tried to bring the original name back to the sea.
...
> The sea has had the name "Sea of Korea" NOT because it has been Korean 
> territory, but because the name had been naturally accepted and widely used.
> It is the way how things are called with their names.
> The problem is that the name was 'forced' to be changed.

I'm getting quite skeptical about these points of view.
Can I ask you where you got these ideas?


And, furthermore,

> However, whenever we ask international organizations to correct it, the 
> Japanese government interrupts it.
> 

This sounds (to me) our government violates legal rights of our
neighbors, which makes me feel a little uneasy.  Would you also show us
more detailed informations(when/where/how) about this?


(Note that I don't mean "Sea of Japan" is the unique and legitimate name
for the sea. I just want to tell you I cannot agree with you when you
say "Before the 19th century, it had been called 'Sea of Korea" in the
world".)


By the way,

In article <1992Nov7.174144.9467@tc.cornell.edu>
jfe@alchemy.tn.cornell.edu (Brian Chung) writes:

> 	   Hm, I don't agree with that analogy.  Your analogy seems to apply
> that Japanese people consider the East Sea as their own.  Do they?  As long
> as Dok-do belongs to Korea, Japanese government can scream and howl all they
> want, but they are bound by the Law of the Seas to keep their hands to
> themselves.  A more correct analogy would be:  You tapped into my bank

I've been wondering what Koreans are doing on that island which, our
government claims, belongs to us. (We call it "Takeshima", anyway.)

Maybe now is the time to ask somebody about this.



Omori Naohito