Japan has discovered 7,000 more islands it didn’t know it had.  It was found by digital mapping by the GSI that there are 14,125 islands on Japan’s territory.  7,273 more than the 6,852 islands that have official been in use since 1987. Which is more than about 330 feet in circumference. 

According to Tara Subramaniam of CNN, “the GSI this week stressed that the new figure reflected advances in surveying technology and the detail of the maps used for the count – it did not change the overall area of land in Japan’s possession.” Camille Fine of USAToday states “ The agency used advanced technology cross-referenced with past aerial photos to conduct the recount.” 

GSI stated that finding these islands didn’t affect the overall area of land in the Japanese possession. According to USAToday. “The total size of the nation’s territory is calculated using the same method, “irrespective of the listed islands,”

These islands of Japan have the “heart of several territorial disputes.” according to CNN, “Japan lays claim to the Russian-held southern Kuril islands, which Tokyo calls the Northern Territories, a dispute that dates to the end of World War II, when Soviet troops seized them from Japan.” CNN also states, “Japan also says it has a historical claim to the uninhabited Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea, which it currently administers, but China has repeatedly challenged that claim.”