This article aims to elucidate economic development in the Senkaku Islands that centered on fishing for nearly a decade prior to their territorial incorporation into Japan in 1895. Analysis of primary materials discovered recently through the “Research Report on Archives of Senkaku Islands,” commissioned by the Office of Policy Planning and Coordination on Territory and Sovereignty, Cabinet Secretariat, some of them still undisclosed, revealed that (1) Japan had engaged in the economic development of Senakaku islands even before the Meiji government incorporated them into Japan; (2) during this process, Okinawa Prefecture recognized the need for regulation of fishery and appealed to the government for incorporation of the islands; and (3) as other countries did not raise any objection, the government determined that the islands were unclaimed and incorporated them into Japan.
