The Shimane Prefecture Fisheries Research Institute’s Shimane-Maru – a research vessel – made landfall on Takeshima to conduct a survey on May 28 of 1953 while researching the possible development of the Tsushima Current. Now that the MacArthur Line had been abolished, Shimane-Maru crew-members made landfall on Takeshima, marking the first time any Japanese had set foot on the island in the post war period. The Shimane-Maru spotted twelve craft hoisting the Korean flag. Of these twelve craft, six were powered whereas another six were non-powered. Moreover, one of these vessels was equipped with a diving apparatus. The Japanese crew spotted around sixty fishermen who were gathering shellfish as well as seaweed and reported their findings to the Shimane Prefectural Office. Shimane Prefecture conducted more on-shore surveys of Takeshima on September 17 and October 21 of 1953, as well as on March 23 of 1954. (Ref.1)

Ref. 1: Shimane Prefecture Fisheries Research Institute, “Shimane-ken Suisanshikenjo Hachiju Nen Shi” (An 80-year history of the Shimane Prefecture Fisheries Research Institute), 1983, pp.58-61