Japan demands that the United Nations amend the world map because of the Kuril Islands

Japan announced, on Thursday, that it had asked the United Nations to review the new map of the world it had adopted. Because the disputed Kuril Islands appear on the map to be part of Russia.

Last week, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a new version of the world map in which Africa extends over a wider area and North America and Europe appear in a smaller size, which sparked criticism from the United States.

Japan was one of the 164 countries that supported the resolution, but it protested against the new version of the map after it showed the Kuril Islands, disputed between Moscow and Tokyo, in the same color as Russia. Japan calls the region the Northern Territories.

Japanese government spokesman Minoru Kihara said that the new map “represents these territories in a way that contradicts the position of the Japanese government.”

“We lodged a protest... through diplomatic channels to demand a correction,” Kihara stated in a media briefing.

He stressed the need to “prevent the spread of misconceptions about our regions and geographical designations.”

The Soviets took control of these islands in 1945 and expelled the Japanese from them.

In recent months, relations between Russia and Japan have deteriorated, especially following an unannounced visit by Russian President Vladimir Putin to the disputed islands, for the first time in his presidential term.

Following the visit, Tokyo summoned the Russian ambassador, and Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi considered that Putin's visit "insulted the feelings of the Japanese people," describing it as "completely unacceptable."

It affirmed that the islands are “an inherent part of Japanese territory, both from a historical perspective and under international law.”

Moscow was quick to respond, “categorically rejecting” the Japanese statements that were “politically inappropriate and insulting and of course have no legal basis.”

The new United Nations resolution on the map of the world urges countries and international organizations to use cartographic drawings of the “terrestrial equality projection” type to provide a more accurate representation of the sizes of continental land masses, and to abandon what is known as the “Mercator projection.” Named after the scientist and cartographer Gerardus Mercatori, who invented this methodology in 1569 to solve a practical problem in maritime navigation.

Since the straight lines on his map corresponded to fixed compass directions, sailors were able to use them to plot their routes. But maintaining direction came at the expense of space. Land masses appear larger the further away they are from the equator.

The General Assembly resolution indicated that these distortions contributed to the “symbolic minimization” of Africa in particular, and perpetuated an unbalanced view of the world.