Sea of Japan Naming Dispute - Response of Media and Publishers

Response of Media and Publishers

A number of maps, encyclopedias, and other publications have switched to using both names. For example, the Manual of Style of the National Geographic Society states that disputed place-names in international waters or jointly controlled by two or more countries should use the conventional name first with other names following in parentheses. As such, their policy on this sea states that "The internationally accepted name is Sea of Japan, although Korea prefers East Sea. When scale permits, Geographic maps show the alternative name East Sea in parentheses after Sea of Japan."

In 2006, Google put both names on Google Earth, using East Sea near the Korean coast and Sea of Japan near the Japanese coast. In the 2007 edition of Encyclopædia Britannica, the primary article is called "Sea of Japan". A secondary article called "East Sea" notes "see Japan, Sea of." On the encyclopedia's map of Japan and other Asia maps, Sea of Japan appears as the primary label and East Sea appears as a secondary label in parentheses. However, on the map of Korea the name East Sea appears as the primary label and Sea of Japan appears as a secondary label in parentheses. Other examples of publishers who use similar systems include Microsoft Encarta, the Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, and About.com.

In 2012, French encyclopedia publisher Larousse replaced "Mer du Japon" ("Sea of Japan") with "Mer de L'est (Mer du Japon)" ("East Sea (Sea of Japan)") in maps of South Korea and North Korea in two of its books.　However other maps such as Asia, China, Japan, and Russia continue to use "Mer du Japon". Furthermore, the article "Mer du Japon" does not mention "East Sea" at all.