In 1939, a Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry Resource Survey Team led by Kobayashi Jun and Takahashi Naoyuki conducted a survey of the Senkaku Islands, accompanied by Ishigakijima Weather Station technician Masaki Tsutomu. In 1941, Masaki published the paper "Senkaku Retto o saguru" (Exploring the Senkaku Islands), describing the appearance, flora, and fauna of each island. (Ref. 1)

On September 27-29, 1943, Ishigakijima Weather Station technician Yamato Jun'ichi and staff member Hokama Eiki made a survey trip to Uotsuri Island to perform preliminary surveys for the establishment of a weather station on the island. However, plans to build the station were later cancelled. (Ref. 2)

Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry Resource Survey Team
(Above: party staying at Koga Zenji's dried bonito flake plant and former settlement; below: view of boat making landfall from main ship)
Photographs taken by Kobayashi Jun and held in Okinawa Prefectural Archives. Provided by Okinawa Television Broadcasting Co., Ltd.

Ref.1　：Masaki Tsutomu, "Senkaku Retto o saguru" (Exploring the Senkaku Islands) in Saishu to shiiku (Collecting and Breeding), vol. 3, no. 4 (1941).

Ref.2　："Uotsurishima kisho kansho sosetsu ni kansuru shuccho meirei" (Trip Orders Regarding Establishment of Uotsuri Island Meteorological Office) 16, in Yaeyama kishodai shuccho tsuzuri (Records of Yaeyama Meteorological Observatory Trips). Copy in OPRF Center for Island Studies.

Reference Materials
"Senkaku Retto" (The Senkaku Islands), in Kikan Okinawa (Okinawa Quarterly) 56 (March 25, 1971), p. 118. Kikan Okinawa is the journal of Nanpo Doho Engokai (Assistance Association for Okinawa and Ogasawara Islands).

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