There is more of Japan to explore and discover as the island nation has discovered that it has more islands in its territorial waters.
According to Japanese news media outlet, Kyodo News, the Japanese government conducted a recount of its islands and found that its territory more than doubled.
“The number of listed Japanese islands is expected to more than double from 6 852 to 14 125 after the government recounted them for the first time in 35 years,” said Kyodo News.
The news outlet said that the decision to reassess the number of listed islands came amid criticism that data was old and the true figure could be vastly different.
This new discovery is likely to affect entries in educational and other materials.
“The government has been using the figure released in 1987 by the Japan Coast Guard. At the time, the coast guard listed by hand islands with a circumference of 100 metres or greater shown on a map of Japan. Islands in lakes or river sandbanks were not included in the total,” said Kyodo News.
The media house revealed that its government counted islands automatically using a computer based on the Geospatial Information Authority of Japan's (GSI) electronic land map in 2022 and cross-referenced the map with past aerial photographs and other data in order to exclude artificially reclaimed land.
“While the computer detected over 100 000 islands, only those with circumferences of 100 metres or greater were selected for the official list,” said Kyodo News.
The news outlet also said that the huge increase resulting from improved accuracy with the digitalisation of maps is unlikely to change the size of Japanese territory or territorial waters, and the government is expected to release the new figure as early as March, although the number could change as the GSI is making final adjustments.