Japan may add new territories

Earthquakes, tsunamis, floods, landslides, typhoons, volcanic eruptions , these natural disasters must have been heard of by everyone, and even experienced by some. It would be unfortunate if these disasters all occurred in the same country. Unfortunately for Japan, these disasters have a chance.

Except for volcanic eruptions and tsunamis that cannot be seen in Taiwan, everything else is there. Speaking of which, Taiwan is quite pitiful.

However, Lao Tzu once said, "Fortune and misfortune depend on each other, and fortune and misfortune lie on the back." Although volcanic eruptions will bring various disasters, I believe you have seen Hollywood blockbusters and know that the flow of magma engulfs everything. Even if it is hundreds of kilometers away from the crater, it may not be all right. The volcanic ash can still drift so far, and in severe cases, it will cover all exposed objects like snow.

But the benefits of volcanoes are also many, the most direct benefit is hot springs ! There are hot springs all over Japan because there are volcanoes everywhere in Japan, and the volcanic geothermal heat raises the temperature of the groundwater.

Another great benefit is the theme of this article, volcanic eruptions create new land !

In today's era, it is not easy for a country to increase its territorial area. In the early years, it was possible to launch an armed war to invade the territory of other countries, but now it is not easy to launch a war, and the citizens of a democratic country will not easily agree with the national leaders to make such a decision. Even the leaders of totalitarian countries have to evaluate and measure various factors, and they may be ousted if they are not careful.

Therefore, if you want to increase territory (including territorial waters) now, you can only rely on nature to create new land on its own. Not long ago, an underwater volcano about 1,300 kilometers south of Tokyo erupted suddenly. The volcanic smoke that could be observed was as high as 17,000 meters, and the volcanic ash drifted westward, crossing the Bashi Strait as far as the South China Sea, and it was estimated to have drifted thousands of kilometers. At present, it can be seen that the land area protruding from the sea level is about 1 km in diameter, and there are two small islands, one large and one small. If it can be maintained and it will not be swallowed up by the sea and disappear, it is expected to be registered as a new territory in a few years.

To become a country's territory, it must be defined as an island in accordance with Article 121 of the International Law of the Sea "United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea". An island is defined as a " naturally formed area of land surrounded by water and above water at high tide ", having the same territorial sea, contiguous zone, exclusive economic zone and continental shelf as other land territories, but "not capable of sustaining human habitation or its own There should be no exclusive economic zone or continental shelf.”

After the island conditions are met, Japan will conduct various surveys, make nautical charts, and publish the information on the new island internationally before it can be recognized as Japan's territory. Since the new island is located in the territorial waters of Japan, and the surrounding areas are not close to other countries, there are basically no territorial disputes. In other words, if the new island happens to appear near the middle line of the Tsushima Strait (the background site of the PS4 game "Ghost of Tsushima"), Japan and South Korea should be arguing over the issue of ownership!

Because the area around the underwater volcano is commonly known as "Fukuoka Field (Fukuoka No Field)", after the new island is stabilized, if the name is named, it should be related to this name.

However, it will not be easy for the new island to be stable enough to be recognized as a territory. From the Meiji era (about a hundred years ago) to the present, a new island has appeared at this location three times, and all three times were engulfed by the waves.

Because of the numerous active volcanoes in various parts of Japan, the territorial area has actually been changing. Before 1973, "Nishishima", which was close to this new island, was also formed by a volcanic eruption. The island is located about 1,000 kilometers south of Tokyo and about 130 kilometers west of Chichijima in the Ogasawara Islands, and at the time had an area of 0.07 square kilometers. Up to now, there are still intermittent eruptions, and the area has reached 4.1 square kilometers.

Another example, Sakurajima, which was also introduced in the previous article " Understanding the Meaning of Place Names in Japan ", is also an active volcano, and it still erupts irregularly. Originally an independent island, it is now linked to Kyushu because of volcanic land. If you have the opportunity to travel to Kagoshima, Kyushu, you can also stop by Sakurajima and see the volcano up close. If you are lucky enough, you may be able to witness the eruption of the volcano, the most recent eruption was on June 4, 2020.

2021/09/01 posted.