Japan has lodged a protest over the depiction of the disputed Kuril Islands on an Equal Earth world map following a United Nations General Assembly resolution encouraging the wider use of the map projection, saying the representation could create a misleading impression about the status of the islands.

Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara said Thursday that Tokyo had asked the operator of the website displaying the map to correct the depiction through diplomatic channels.

“The display contradicts the Japanese government's position,” Kihara said, adding that Japan needed to prevent misconceptions about its territory and geographical names from spreading.

The dispute concerns four islands that Japan calls the Northern Territories — Etorofu, Kunashiri, Shikotan and the Habomai islets — and Russia refers to as the Southern Kurils. The islands have been under Russian control since Soviet forces seized them in the final days of World War II in 1945, but Japan continues to claim sovereignty over them.

The Japanese protest has drawn attention because Japan itself was among the 164 countries that voted in favor of the UN resolution on Sept. 4.

The resolution, spearheaded by Togo and backed by African countries, promotes the use of equal-area projections such as Equal Earth because they provide a more accurate representation of the relative size of continents. The measure passed by 164 votes to one, with the United States casting the only vote against and six countries abstaining.

The initiative seeks to address distortions associated with the widely used Mercator projection, which makes land masses closer to the poles appear substantially larger than their actual area. Under the Equal Earth projection, Africa appears considerably larger relative to Europe and North America, more accurately reflecting its real size.

The UN resolution does not ban the Mercator projection or legally require countries and companies to replace existing maps. Instead, it encourages governments, educational institutions, international organizations and technology companies to consider Equal Earth and other equal-area projections when accurate comparisons of land size are important.

Japan's objection stems from the way the Equal Earth map's online version colors the disputed islands. The four islands appear in the same color as Russian territory, which Tokyo says conflicts with its position that they are part of Japan.

The map does include a description indicating that the islands are under Russian control while also being claimed by Japan. However, Japanese officials have argued that the visual representation could nevertheless lead to an incorrect perception of the islands' status.

The issue comes amid already strained relations between Tokyo and Moscow.

Tensions rose further last month after Russian President Vladimir Putin made a surprise visit to the disputed islands, prompting a strong reaction from Japan. Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi described the visit as “absolutely unacceptable” and reiterated Tokyo's position that the islands are an inherent part of Japanese territory.

Moscow rejected Japan's position, describing Tokyo's statements as politically inappropriate and legally unfounded.

The territorial dispute has remained one of the main obstacles to a formal peace treaty between Japan and Russia following World War II. Relations have deteriorated further since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, with Japan joining other Group of Seven countries in imposing sanctions on Moscow.

Japan is not the only country to have raised concerns about how disputed territories are represented on the map.

Ukraine abstained from the UN vote, citing concerns over the depiction of territories occupied by Russia, including Crimea. India also expressed reservations about how its disputed border with Pakistan was represented, despite voting in favor of the resolution.

The controversy highlights the political sensitivity of maps even when their primary purpose is geographic. While the Equal Earth initiative was designed largely to correct distortions in the perceived size of continents, the representation of disputed borders and territories can carry significant diplomatic implications.

For Japan, the dispute is therefore less about the mathematical accuracy of the projection than about ensuring that the map does not appear to endorse Russia's claim over territory that Tokyo continues to regard as Japanese. (ILKHA)