, or Parece Vela, is a

coral reef A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of colonies of coral polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, whose polyps cluster in groups. C ...

with two

rocks In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks form the Earth's ...

enlarged with tetrapod-cement structures. It is administered by Japan with a total shoal area of and land area . Its dry land area is mostly made up by three concrete encasings and there is a

stilt Stilt is a common name for several species of birds in the family Recurvirostridae, which also includes those known as avocets. They are found in brackish or saline wetlands in warm or hot climates. They have extremely long legs, hence the grou ...

platform in the

lagoon A lagoon is a shallow body of water separated from a larger body of water by a narrow landform, such as reefs, barrier islands, barrier peninsulas, or isthmuses. Lagoons are commonly divided into ''coastal lagoons'' (or ''barrier lagoons'') ...

housing a research station. There is a third completely artificial tetrapod-cement islet. It is located on the Palau–Kyushu Ridge in the Philippine Sea, southeast of Okidaitōjima and west-southwest of

South Iwo Jima , native_name_link = , image_caption = Minami-Iōtō , image_size = , pushpin_map = Japan complete , pushpin_label = South Iwo Jima , pushpin_label_position = , pushpin_map_alt = , pushpin_relief ...

in the

Bonin Islands The Bonin Islands, also known as the , are an archipelago of over 30 subtropical and tropical islands, some directly south of Tokyo, Japan and northwest of Guam. The name "Bonin Islands" comes from the Japanese word ''bunin'' (an archaic read ...

or south of

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

, Japan. The atoll is the southernmost part of Japan and the only Japanese territory south of the

Tropic of Cancer The Tropic of Cancer, which is also referred to as the Northern Tropic, is the most northerly circle of latitude on Earth at which the Sun can be directly overhead. This occurs on the June solstice, when the Northern Hemisphere is tilted tow ...

. Japan argues that the atoll is significant enough for it to claim a exclusive economic zone (EEZ) around it, but China,

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...

, and

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

dispute the Japanese EEZ, saying that the atoll does not meet the definition of an island under the

United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), also called the Law of the Sea Convention or the Law of the Sea Treaty, is an international agreement that establishes a legal framework for all marine and maritime activities. , 167 c ...

History

The atoll may have been sighted first by Spanish sailor

Bernardo de la Torre Bernardo de la Torre was a Spanish sailor, primarily noted for having explored parts of the Western Pacific Ocean south of Japan in the 16th century. Bernardo de la Torre sailed under the instructions of Ruy López de Villalobos, who sent him in Au ...

in 1543, although the first undisputed sighting was by Miguel López de Legazpi in 1565. Its first recorded name was Parece Vela (

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

for "looks like a sail", alluding to the original appearance of the reef). This name has been retained in English as well, especially to designate the geological formations of the islets. In 1789, Captain William Douglas arrived with the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

ship ''Iphigenia'' and, in 1790, the place was named Douglas Reef (also spelled Douglass Reef).Yukie Yoshikawa. 2005.
Okinotorishima: Just the Tip of the Iceberg
. ''Harvard Asian Quarterly'', Vol. 9, No. 4. This name continues to appear in modern sources. In 1796, what was likely the reef was then re-discovered by the brig ''Nautilus'', under the command of Captain Charles Bishop, and the name Nautilus Rocks has appeared in some sources. The existence of the atoll might not have been known by the Japanese until 1888. In 1922 and 1925, the Japanese navy ship ''Manshu'' investigated the area. In 1931, confirming that no other countries had claimed the reefs, Japan declared it Japanese territory, placing it under the jurisdiction of the

Tokyo Metropolis Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

, classifying it as part of the Ogasawara Village, and naming it Okinotorishima, meaning "remote bird islands". English names derived from the Japanese include Okinotori

coral reefs A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of colonies of coral polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, whose polyps cluster in groups. Co ...

and Okinotori Islands. During 1939 and 1941, a foundation was completed for a lighthouse and a meteorological observation site, but construction was interrupted by the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. After Japan's defeat, the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

assumed sovereignty over the

Ogasawara islands The Bonin Islands, also known as the , are an archipelago of over 30 subtropical and tropical islands, some directly south of Tokyo, Japan and northwest of Guam. The name "Bonin Islands" comes from the Japanese word ''bunin'' (an archaic readi ...

, and returned authority over the islands to Japan in 1968. Between 1987 and 1993 the government of Tokyo and later the central government built steel breakwaters and concrete walls to stop the

erosion Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as water flow or wind) that removes soil, rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust, and then transports it to another location where it is deposited. Erosion is dis ...

of Okinotorishima, which today leaves only three of the five rocks that were present in 1939 above water; in 1988 the

Japan Marine Science and Technology Center Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

built a marine investigation facility which it has since maintained following typhoon damage. Funding for full repairs was finally allocated in early 2016. The facility also doubles as an EEZ

observation post An observation post (commonly abbreviated OP), temporary or fixed, is a position from which soldiers can watch enemy movements, to warn of approaching soldiers (such as in trench warfare), or to direct fire. In strict military terminology, an ...

for the Maritime Bureau of the

Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism The , abbreviated MLIT, is a ministry of the Japanese government.国土交通省設置法 ...

, being equipped with radar and various other sensors to help monitor activity in the zone. On March 16, 2007, a light beacon was installed by the

Japan Coast Guard The is the coast guard of Japan. The Japan Coast Guard consists of about 13,700 personnel and is responsible for the protection of the coastline of Japan under the oversight of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. Th ...

. The beacon is plotted on the

hydrographic chart A nautical chart is a graphic representation of a sea area and adjacent coastal regions. Depending on the scale of the chart, it may show depths of water and heights of land (topographic map), natural features of the seabed, details of the coa ...

Geology

Geologically, the islets are a coral

atoll An atoll () is a ring-shaped island, including a coral rim that encircles a lagoon partially or completely. There may be coral islands or cays on the rim. Atolls are located in warm tropical or subtropical oceans and seas where corals can gr ...

, built on the Kyushu–Palau Ridge, the westernmost part of the

Izu–Bonin–Mariana Arc The Izu–Bonin–Mariana (IBM) arc system is a tectonic plate convergent boundary in Micronesia. The IBM arc system extends over 2800 km south from Tokyo, Japan, to beyond Guam, and includes the Izu Islands, the Bonin Islands, and the Marian ...

system. The name Parece Vela Basin has been given to the extinct back-arc basin that lies immediately to the east (the northern half of this back-arc basin is known as the

Shikoku Basin is the smallest of the List of islands of Japan#Main islands, four main islands of Japan. It is long and between wide. It has a population of 3.8 million (, 3.1%). It is south of Honshu and northeast of Kyushu. Shikoku's ancient names ...

). This back-arc basin was formed by

seafloor spreading Seafloor spreading or Seafloor spread is a process that occurs at mid-ocean ridges, where new oceanic crust is formed through volcanic activity and then gradually moves away from the ridge. History of study Earlier theories by Alfred Wegener a ...

between the late Oligocene and

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first epoch (geology), geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and mea ...

. The Parece Vela Basin contains the longest

megamullion An oceanic core complex, or megamullion, is a seabed geologic feature that forms a long ridge perpendicular to a mid-ocean ridge. It contains smooth domes that are lined with transverse ridges like a corrugated roof. They can vary in size from 10 ...

in the world. The original Spanish name of the islets is normally used for the

geological formation A geological formation, or simply formation, is a body of rock having a consistent set of physical characteristics ( lithology) that distinguishes it from adjacent bodies of rock, and which occupies a particular position in the layers of rock exp ...

s, hence, Parece Vela megamullion, Parece Vela ridge, Parece Vela Rift or Parece Vela basin. The waters around the reefs are potentially rich in

oil An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturated ...

and other mineral and fisheries resources and it lies in an area of potential military significance. At

high tide Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the Moon (and to a much lesser extent, the Sun) and are also caused by the Earth and Moon orbiting one another. Tide tables c ...

, one area of the reef is , roughly the size of a twin bed, and pokes just out of the ocean. The other is , the size of a small bedroom, and rises , about twice as high. The entire reef consists of approximately , most of which is submerged even at low tide. The area has three tiny individual

islet An islet is a very small, often unnamed island. Most definitions are not precise, but some suggest that an islet has little or no vegetation and cannot support human habitation. It may be made of rock, sand and/or hard coral; may be permanen ...

s: *Higashi-Kojima (東小島, "Eastern Islet") *Kita-Kojima (北小島, "Northern Islet"), nevertheless rather in the "West" *Minami-Kojima (南小島, "Southern Islet") Okinotorishima-NASA

Minami-Kojima is a completely artificial islet created in shallow water. But also the two original islets appear completely artificial today, with little if any trace of the two natural rocks that still appear on photographs of 1987. In 1925, there were still five above-water rocks, which have eroded since. A report from 1947 mentions five above-water rocks. Three smaller ones were on the west side, nearly impossible to see from seaward because of the breaking waves. The larger rocks on the southwest side and on the northeast side, possibly Kita-Kojima and Higashi-Kojima, were reported to be high, respectively. The original rocks appeared barren, without any

terrestrial vegetation The Embryophyta (), or land plants, are the most familiar group of green plants that comprise vegetation on Earth. Embryophytes () have a common ancestor with green algae, having emerged within the Phragmoplastophyta clade of green algae as sist ...

. The current artificial dry land areas with their concrete surfaces appear unfit to support terrestrial vegetation either. After concrete encasing, each of the islets appears as a circle with a

diameter In geometry, a diameter of a circle is any straight line segment that passes through the center of the circle and whose endpoints lie on the circle. It can also be defined as the longest chord of the circle. Both definitions are also valid fo ...

of 60 meters (196 ft) on detailed

satellite image Satellite images (also Earth observation imagery, spaceborne photography, or simply satellite photo) are images of Earth collected by imaging satellites operated by governments and businesses around the world. Satellite imaging companies sell ima ...

s, which would correspond to a land area—albeit mostly artificial—of per islet, or in total. In addition, there is a platform on

stilts Stilts are poles, posts or pillars that allow a person or structure to stand at a height above the ground. In flood plains, and on beaches or unstable ground, buildings are often constructed on stilts to protect them from damage by water, wav ...

in the shallow part of the lagoon east-northeast of the southern islet, built by the Japan Marine Science and Technology Center in 1988, which appears as a rectangle of . The platform has a

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attributes ...

landing pad and a large three-story building with a marine investigation facility and a meteorological station. The rocks are in the western part of a

surrounded by a submerged coral reef, over which the waves break, and that extends east-west and north-south, with an area of roughly 5 km² within the rim of the reef. The lagoon is 3 to 4.6 meters deep, but there are numerous coral heads of lesser depths throughout the area. The fringing reef of the atoll is pear-shaped in an east–west direction with its greatest width at the eastern end. There is a small boat channel into the lagoon in the southwest, about wide and deep, southeast of the artificial islet.

Administration

Administratively, the island is considered part of Ogasawara village,

. In 1939, the construction of a naval base was started by Japan, but suspended in 1941, at the start of the Pacific War.

Typhoon A typhoon is a mature tropical cyclone that develops between 180° and 100°E in the Northern Hemisphere. This region is referred to as the Northwestern Pacific Basin, and is the most active tropical cyclone basin on Earth, accounting for a ...

s are constant threats to Okinotori's existence. In the 1970s there were about five or six visible protrusions, but by 1989, only two were visible. In order to prevent the island from submersion caused by erosion and maintain its claim to the EEZ, the Japanese government launched an embankment building project in 1987, and Higashikojima and Kitakojima were surrounded by concrete. Japan has encased the reefs with $280 million worth of

concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of fine and coarse aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement (cement paste) that hardens (cures) over time. Concrete is the second-most-used substance in the world after water, and is the most wid ...

and covered the smaller one with a $50 million

titanium Titanium is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ti and atomic number 22. Found in nature only as an oxide, it can be reduced to produce a lustrous transition metal with a silver color, low density, and high strength, resista ...

net to shield it from debris thrown up by the ocean's waves. The Japanese government has spent over $600 million fortifying the reefs to prevent them from being completely washed away. Furthermore, the

Nippon Foundation of Tokyo, Japan, is a private, non-profit grant-making organization. It was established in 1962 by Ryoichi Sasakawa. The foundation's mission is to direct Japanese motorboat racing revenue into philanthropic activities, it uses this money ...

has drawn plans to build a lighthouse and increase the size of the reef by breeding microorganisms known as

foraminifera Foraminifera (; Latin for "hole bearers"; informally called "forams") are single-celled organisms, members of a phylum or class of amoeboid protists characterized by streaming granular ectoplasm for catching food and other uses; and commonly ...

. Creating land using the microorganisms could take decades to a century before the island is large enough to be useful.Martin Fackler. 2005, February 20.
Japan's ultranationalists: Stuck between a rock and a hard sell
" Currently, Japan carries out maritime research and observation of the area, as well as repair work on the

embankment Embankment may refer to: Geology and geography * A levee, an artificial bank raised above the immediately surrounding land to redirect or prevent flooding by a river, lake or sea * Embankment (earthworks), a raised bank to carry a road, railwa ...

. In 2005, the government installed a

radar system Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance (''ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, ...

(at the cost of ¥ 330 million), repaired a heliport, and placed an official address plaque saying, "1 Okinotori Island, Ogasawara Village, Tokyo" in Japanese. Fishing expeditions also support the claim of

economic activity Economics () is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics analyzes w ...

. Former Tokyo Governor

Shintaro Ishihara was a Japanese politician and writer who was Governor of Tokyo from 1999 to 2012. Being the former leader of the radical right Japan Restoration Party, he was one of the most prominent ultranationalists in modern Japanese politics. An ultra ...

has talked of building a

power station A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electrical grid. Many ...

, despite protests by environmentalists. His government has helped fund expeditions to Okinotori by Japanese fishermen and scientists. Governor Ishihara himself toured the islands on May 20, 2005 to inspect the conservation and management efforts, went

snorkeling Snorkeling ( British and Commonwealth English spelling: snorkelling) is the practice of swimming on or through a body of water while equipped with a diving mask, a shaped breathing tube called a snorkel, and usually swimfins. In cooler waters ...

to see firsthand the condition of the surrounding waters, and released Japanese

horse mackerel Horse mackerel is a vague vernacular term for a range of species of fish throughout the English-speaking world. It is commonly applied to pelagic fishes, especially of the Carangidae (jack mackerels and scads) family, most commonly those of the gen ...

fry to show support for the local fishing industry. The islands are an intermittent rallying point for

Japanese nationalists is a form of nationalism that asserts the belief that the Japanese are a monolithic nation with a single immutable culture, and promotes the cultural unity of the Japanese. Over the last two centuries, it has encompassed a broad range of ideas a ...

, and, as such, a hot-button political issue in Japan.

EEZ dispute

In 1988, Jon van Dyke, a law professor at the University of Hawaii, challenged whether Okinotorishima met the requirements for establishing an exclusive economic zone (EEZ): "Article 121(3) of the 1982 Law of the Sea Convention, which Japan has signed, states that ''Rocks which cannot sustain human habitation or economic life of their own shall have no exclusive economic zone or continental shelf.'' Okinotorishima - which consists of two eroding protrusions no larger than king-size beds - certainly meets the description of an uninhabitable rock that cannot sustain economic life of its own. It is not, therefore, entitled to generate a 200-mile exclusive economic zone. The Law of the Sea Convention is also quite clear - in Article 60 (8) -that artificially built islands do not generate 200-mile resource zones. The more than $200 million the Japanese are spending to construct what is in essence an artificial island cannot, therefore, be the basis for a claim to the exclusive control over the resources in the waters around such a construction." On 22 April 2004,

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...

diplomats stated during bilateral talks with Japan that they regarded Okinotorishima as an

, not an

, and did not acknowledge Japan's claim to an EEZ stemming from Okinotorishima. Under the

, an island is "a naturally formed area of land, surrounded by water, which is above water at high tide". It states that "rocks which cannot sustain human habitation or economic life of their own shall have no exclusive economic zone." Japan signed the Convention in 1983; the Convention came into force in 1994–1996 for Japan. Japan claims an EEZ over 400,000 square km (154,500 square miles) around Okinotorishima. China and South Korea dispute this claim in their addenda to the CLCS, saying the area only consists of

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

s and not islands. Neither China nor South Korea have

territorial claim A land claim is defined as "the pursuit of recognized territorial ownership by a group or individual". The phrase is usually only used with respect to disputed or unresolved land claims. Some types of land claims include aboriginal land claims, A ...

s regarding Okinotorishima, but foreign policy analysts speculated that they want to "investigate the surrounding seabed for submarine operations in case of

military conflict War is an intense armed conflict between State (polity), states, governments, Society, societies, or paramilitary groups such as Mercenary, mercenaries, Insurgency, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violenc ...

involving the Republic of China (Taiwan)." Japan claims that rock is not defined in the convention. The construction of a port, lighthouse, and power station may be used as a counterargument for China's claim regarding "sustain nghuman habitation or economic life", but the UNCLOS definition for an island per Art. 121(3) also requires one to have its own natural source of freshwater as a prerequisite to sustaining human habitation or economic life, which is absent on Okinotorishima. The territory lies at a militarily strategic point, midway between

and

Guam Guam (; ch, Guåhan ) is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. It is the westernmost point and territory of the United States (reckoned from the geographic cent ...

, the latter where U.S. forces are based. Vessels of the PRC are believed to have been mapping the ocean's bottom over which U.S. warships might pass on their way to Taiwan. The PRC conducted four maritime surveys near the Okinotori coral reefs in 2001, two in 2002, and one in 2003. However, the number of such incidents rose to four in 2004. These incidents have drawn protests from Japan. Jon Van Dyke, a law professor, has suggested that the situation is similar to the failed

attempt to claim an EEZ around

Rockall Rockall () is an uninhabitable granite islet situated in the North Atlantic Ocean. The United Kingdom claims that Rockall lies within its exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and is part of its territory, but this claim is not recognised by Ireland. ...

, an uninhabited

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies under ...

outcropping in the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

. The UK eventually dropped its claim in the 1990s when other countries objected. Dr. Dyke has further asserted that it is impossible to make "a plausible claim that Okinotorishima should be able to generate a 200 auticalmile zone".Martin Fackler. 2005, February 16. "A Reef or a Rock? Question Puts Japan in a Hard Place To Claim Disputed Waters, Charity Tries to Find Use For Okinotori Shima" ''The Wall Street Journal''. p. A1. Tadao Kuribayashi, another law professor, disagrees, arguing in part that rocks and reefs differ in composition and structure, and that the intent of the provision was geared toward the former.Yukie YOSHIKAWA. 2007, October 11.
The US-Japan-China Mistrust Spiral and Okinotorishima
". Japan Focus In 2016, Japan's arrest of a Taiwanese fishing ship's crew led Taiwan to protest against Japan's claim of island status for Okinotori and by extension the EEZ.

References

External links