Abstract
In the Meiji era, the Japanese rushed into the Pacific Ocean islands in order to gain the feather of birds such as albatross. This study examined the Japanese exploring to the Pratas Island in the South China Sea. The first exploring to the Pratas Island was conducted by Hanuemon Tamaoki and Shinroku Mizutani in 1901, and they aimed to gain albatross feather. However, there was no albatross in the island, then Tamaoki abandoned his plan immediately. Mizutani tried in vain to find Sula leucogaster . Secondly, Kichiji Nishizawa explored the island in order to gain not only birds’ feather but also guano and mineral phosphate; huge labor force was introduced into the island, and the island was transformed into the business island named ‘Nishizawa Island’. At this point, the purpose of the exploring of the uninhabited island was dramatically changed from gaining birds’ feather into the collection of guano and mineral phosphate. However, in course of time, Nishizawa’s business in the island caused a territorial issue called ‘Nishizawa-island Incident’; the China’s nationalism movement against Japan such as staging a boycott of the Japanese products damaged the Japanese government. The incident was solved by the agreement that the Chinese government purchased Nishizawa’s property in the island.
