What do イガ島, まの島 and マノ島, have in common?

Korean Maps and Usando

Ika-shima (イガ島) and Mano-shima (まの島 or マノ島) were old Japanese names for Ulleungdo's neighboring island of Jukdo (竹島), which is about 2.2 kilometers off of Ulleungdo's east shore. Though Koreans now call the small island "Jukdo," which means "Bamboo Island," during the Joseon Dynasty (1392 - 1910) it was generally known as Usando (于山島), as the following old Korean maps of Ulleungdo clearly show:

Why did Koreans decided to change the name of Ulleungdo's neighboring island from "Usando" to "Jukdo"? Maybe the Japanese names for the small island influenced the Koreans in some way or maybe Koreans just felt that "Bamboo Island" ("Jukdo" in Korean and "Takeshima" in Takeshima) was more descriptive?

Koreans and Japanese on Ulleungdo's Jukdo

In a 1692 document, HERE, Japanese fishermen reported that they landed at a neighboring island of Ulleungdo called "Ika-shima" (イガ島 or いか島), where they found a large catch of abalone that had apparently been left there by Koreans who were fishing in the area at the time. The 1724 Japanese map to the right shows that Ika-shima (イガ島), based on its location, was Ulleungdo's neighoring island of Jukdo, which was called Usando by Koreans at the time. The 1692 document is evidence that both Japanese and Koreans were visiting Ulleungdo's neighboring island of Jukdo and may have been using it as a base for their fishing operations. The 1724 map to the right also shows that the Japanese at the time were referring to Ulleungdo as "Takeshima" (竹島), which is pronounced as "Jukdo" in Korean.

Notice how things are starting to get confusing. In the past, Japanese used "Bamboo Island" (Takeshima) to refer to Ulleungdo, and today Koreans are using "Bamboo Island" to refer to Ulleungdo's neighboring island of Jukdo. Adding to the confusion, today Japanese use "Bamboo Island" (Takeshima) to refer to Liancourt Rocks, which Koreans call Dokdo.

Usando and Bamboo

In the Japanese/Korean territorial dispute over Ulleungdo in the 1690s, the Korean side claimed that Korean fishermen also used the word "Jukdo" (竹島) to refer to Ulleungdo, though there are no Korean maps to support that claim. Whether the claim was true or not, by the 1800s, Koreans were using both Usando and Jukdo to refer to Ulleungdo's neighboring island. Again, why did Koreans start using "Jukdo" to refer to Ulleungdo's neighboring island?

In 1711, Korean inspector Bak Chang-seok (朴昌錫) drew a map of Ulleungdo that can be seen HERE. The map to the right is a cutout of that 1711 map and shows a small island off the east shore of Ulleungdo labeled with the Chinese characters 海長竹田 所謂于山島, which means "field(s) of haejang bamboo, the so-called Usando."

Haejang bamboo (written as either 海長竹 or 海藏竹) is a kind of bamboo that can grow up to 6 or 7 meters tall, according to THIS KOREAN SOURCE. The scientific name for the bamboo is Arundinaria simonii, which, according to THIS SOURCE, is also called kawa-take or medake in Japan. Haejang bamboo was also mentioned in 1694 Ulleungdo inspection report. The following is what Korean inspector Jang Han-sang (張漢相) wrote:

東方五里許有一小島不甚高大海長竹叢生於一面

"There is a small island about five ri (two kilometers) to the east (of Ulleungdo) that is not very high and not very big and has thickly growing haejang bamboo on one side.”

Inspector Jang was almost certainly referring to Ulleungdo's neighboring island of Jukdo, which is about 2.2 kilometers off Ulleungdo's east shore. Notice that he mentioned that haejang bamboo was growing thickly on the island, which agrees with what was written on the 1711 Korean map above.

The above maps show that Usando was Ulleungdo's present-day neighboring island of Jukdo and that bamboo grew there. Usando could not have been Liancourt Rocks (Dokdo), as Koreans claim, since Liancourt Rocks does not have the soil needed to grow bamboo. Nevertheless, the question still remains, "Why did Koreans change the name of Ulleungdo's neighboring island from Usando to Jukdo?

Japanese Maps and Bamboo

The Japanese map to the right was included in an 1877 collection of documents that Japanese authorities were using to investigate the histories of Ulleungdo and Liancourt Rocks. The map shows Ulleungdo (竹島 - Takeshima) and Liancourt Rocks (松島 - Matsushima), but it also shows a small island next to Ulleungdo labeled as マノ島 (Mano-shima). Based on the location of the small island, it was almost certainly Ulleungdo's neighboring island of Jukdo. The "mano" (マノ) in Mano-shima was probably referring to a kind of Japanese bamboo that was called "mano-take (マノ竹), which was mentioned in an old Japanese document HERE. If true, this means that Japanese were essentially calling Ulleungdo's neighboring island "Bamboo Island."

The map to the right is a 1696 Japanese map that shows Ulleungdo, Liancourt Rocks (Dokdo/Takeshima), and Japan's Oki Island. It also shows a small island next to Ulleungdo labelled as "まの島" (Mano-shima). Based on the location of the island, it was almost certainly Ulleungdo's neighboring island of Jukdo. As mentioned above, the Japanese used to use the name "mano" to refer to a kind of bamboo. The まの spelling here was most likely just an alternate spelling of マノ, which was mentioned above and is also pronounced as "mano."

Koreans Start to Lose Track of Usando

In the 1800s, Korean maps were still showing Ulleungdo's neighboring island to be Usando, but the name Jukdo was showing up in Ulleungdo inspection reports, which suggests that Korean squatters on Ulleungdo were using the name Jukdo instead of Usando for the neighboring island. By 1882, Koreans seem to have lost track of Usando, even though Korean maps were still showing it to be a neighboring island of Ulleungdo. The following is an 1882 conversation between King Kojong and Ulleungdo inspector Lee Gyu-won:

The king called Lee Gyu-won forward to give his pre-departure greeting.

The king said, “It is said that these days there is the evil practice of foreigners freely coming and going to Ulleungdo and doing as they please. Also, Songjukdo (松竹島 – 송죽도) and Usando (于山島 – 우산도) are next to Ulleungdo, but there are still no details on the distance between them and what products they have. You were chosen especially for this trip, so pay particular attention to your inspection. Also, we have plans to establish a settlement there, so be sure to prepare a detailed map with your report.”

Lee Gyu-won replied, Usando is just Ulleungdo. Usan was the name of the ancient country’s capital. Songjukdo is a small island about thirty ri offshore (相距爲三數十里). The products there are rosewood trees and pipestem bamboo.”

The king said, “It is called either Usando or Songjukdo (敎曰 或稱芋山島 或稱松竹島), which are both written in the Yeojiseungram (輿地勝覽 – 여지승람). It is also called Songdo (松島 – 송도) and Jukdo (竹島 – 죽도). Together with Usando, there are three islands that make up what is called Ulleungdo. Inspect the situation on all of them. Originally, the Samcheok commander (三陟營將 – 삼척 영장) and the Wolsong commander (越松萬戶 – 월송 만호) took turns searching Ulleungdo, but they were all careless, inspecting only the exterior of the island. This has led to these evil practices.

Lee Gyu-won said, “I will go deep inside and conduct my inspection. Some say that Songdo and Jukdo are east of Ulleungdo, but there is only Songjukdo, no separate Songdo and Jukdo.”

The king asked, “Did you possibly hear that from previous inspectors?”

Lee Gyu-won said, “I have not yet talked with previous inspectors, but that is the gist of what I have heard.”

When Lee Gyu-won returned from his survey of Ulleungdo, he reported finding two small islands off the east shore of Ulleungdo. One was called Jukdo, which was present-day Jukdo, and the other was called Dohang (島項), which was present-day Gwaneumdo. The two islands can be seen on the map to the right, which is a cutout of Lee's 1882 map of Ulleungdo. Lee said that he could not find any island named Usando, though he climbed to the highest peak on the island on a clear day and looked for one. Ulleungdo residents told Lee that they had heard Ulleungdo had a neighboring island called Usando, but they did not know where it was. Lee concluded that Usando was just another name for Ulleungdo.

In spite of Lee's report, Korean maps continued to show Usando as Ulleungdo's neighboring island, as the Korean map to the right clearly does. The map comes from an 1899 Korean geography textbook and was made by what was considered to be Korea's Ministry of Education at the time. Moreover, an 1899 article from the Korean newspaper, "Hwangseong Shinmun," described Ulleungdo as follows:

In the sea east of Uljin is an island named Ulleung. Of its six, small neighboring islands, Usando/Jukdo (于山島竹島) are/is the most prominent (崔著者). The Daehanjiji says that Ulleungdo is the old Country of Usan. It has an area of 100 ri. Three peaks stand out (律兀).

The above article seems to be saying that Usando/Jukdo were the same island, but it is not completely clear. Nevertheless, when Imperial Edit 41 made Ulleungdo a county the following year (1900), only the islands of Ulleungdo, Jukdo, and Seokdo (石島) were mentioned as making up the county. Usando was not mentioned, which suggests that Korean authorities decided to use the name Jukdo instead of Usando. It is unclear to which island Seokdo was referring, but it seems likely that it was referring to either Ulleungdo's second largest neighboring island, Gwaneumdo (觀音島), or was used as a catchall word for all the remaining rocky islets around Ulleungdo. Since there are no old Korean maps or other documents that show or mention Seokdo as a neighboring island of Ulleungdo, it seems more likely that it was used as a catchall word.

Usando Disappears

By 1903, Usando seemed to have become a lost, mystery island since not even Ulleungdo residents seemed to know where it was, as the following 1913 Maeil Shinbo article suggests:

鬱島郡 西面居 金元俊은 鬱島 東北方 4, 50里에 位置하는 于山嶋(無人島)에 移住코자 移住民을 募集하고 探索키로 決定하였으나 10數年前 同地 韓國人이 聯合 探索하였어도 發見치 못하고 海圖에도 없으며 現時 航海路가 頻繁한데도 이를 現認하였다는 일이 없다하여 中止하다.

每日申報 1913.6.22

Kim Won-jun, a resident of Seo-myeon (西面) in Uldo County (鬱島郡), wanted to gather people to migrate to Usando (an uninhabited island), which was supposedly forty to fifty ri northeast of Uldo [Ulleungdo], and decided to search for the island. However, he said that Koreans on the island [Ulleungdo] had tried conducting a joint search for the island [Usando] ten or more years earlier, but were unable to find it. He also said that the island was uncharted, and that even after several trips in search of it, he could notfind it, so he gave up.

Maeil Sinbo, June 22, 1913

As the above article suggests, even Ulleungdo residents in 1903 had lost track of Usando, though there was a rumor that it was forty to fifty ri northeast of Ulleungdo. By 1913, Koreans on Ulleungdo almost certainly knew of Liancourt Rocks (Dokdo), yet they were still searching for Usando, which tells us that they did not believe Usando to be Liancourt Rocks. Of course, the reason they could not find Usando it that it was just an old, forgotten name for Ulleungdo's neighboring island of Jukdo, the "Bamboo Island."

Rhee Syngman's Land Grab and the Reappearance of Usando

When the Japanese were defeated in 1945, Korean President Rhee Syngman saw an opportunity to grab some free Japanese land. He did not only try to claim Tsushima, which had been Japanese territory for untold centuries, he even tried to lay claim to an island that did not exist. When it became apparent that the Americans were not going to accept his claims for Tsushima and a non-existent island, Rhee decided to focus his attention on the Japanese island of Takeshima (Liancourt Rocks), which was officially incorporated into Japanese territory in 1905 and had appeared on Japanese maps for hundreds of years before that. However, Rhee had a problem. Korea had no maps or documents to support a claim on Liancourt Rocks. Therefore, Korea started claiming that the Usando on old Korean maps and in old Korean documents was actually Liancourt Rocks, in spite of the fact that the maps showed Usando to be a neighboring island of Ulleungdo, not Liancourt Rocks.

The Koreans must have assumed that the Americans would just accept their claim without asking any questions or doing any research, given that the US had just fought a bitter war with Japan and would supposedly have no reason to support Japanese claims. However, the Americans did ask questions and did do research, and they decided that Liancourt Rocks belonged to Japan. In fact, here is what US Secretary of State Dean Rusk told the Korean ambassor to the US.

As regards the island of Dokdo, otherwise known as Takeshima or Liancourt Rocks, this normally uninhabited rock formation was according to our information never treated as part of Korea and, since about 1905, has been under the jurisdiction of the Oki Islands Branch Office of Shimane Prefecture of Japan. The island does not appear to ever before to have been claimed by Korea.

Realizing that the 1952 Peace Treaty would not give them Takeshima, Koreans decided to take it by illegally occupying the islets, which they continue to do.

Did Koreans just misinterpret the 1952 Peace Treaty? I do not think so.

In 1954, James Van Fleet visited South Korea as a special mission ambassador for the US. In his mission report, "Report of Van Fleet Mission to the Far East," was written the following:

"When the Treaty of Peace with Japan was being drafted, the Republic of Korea asserted its claims to Dokto but the United States concluded that they remained under Japanese sovereignty and the Island was not included among the Islands that Japan released from its ownership under the Peace Treaty."

Usando, the old name for Ulleungdo's neighboring island of Jukdo, is now being used to support a ridiculous Korean territorial claim on Liancourt Rocks (Dokdo/Takeshima). I wonder how long it will take before Korean historians finally get the courage to stand up and tell the truth?