Editing Sea of Japan naming dispute (section)

==Other countries==
Russia calls this sea "Япо́нское мо́ре" (Yapónskoye móre, Japanese Sea).<ref name="FEB_RAS">{{cite web|title=ATLAS OF OCEANOGRAPHY Bering Sea, Sea of Okhotsk and Sea of Japan|url=http://www.pacificinfo.ru/data/cdrom/2/HTML/4_00.htm|language=ru|publisher=Far East Branch of the [[Russian Academy of Sciences]]|access-date=25 April 2011|archive-date=15 November 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091115073938/http://www.pacificinfo.ru/data/cdrom/2/HTML/4_00.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="Univ.Press">{{cite web|title=Seas of the USSR|url=http://tapemark.narod.ru/more/20.html |language=ru |publisher=A. D. Dobrovolsky, BS Zalogin. Univ. Press, 1982. |access-date=25 April 2011}}</ref> Japan believes that Russia played a major role in establishing this name internationally, as mentioned above. Chinese government websites exclusively use the name [[:zh:日本海|日本海]] (''rìběnhǎi'', 'Japan Sea').<ref>{{cite web |url =http://japanese.china.org.cn/politics/txt/2011-04/20/content_22403715.htm |script-title=ja:韓国国会議員、｢日本海｣呼称廃止を中国に求める |date=20 April 2011 |publisher = Japanese.China.org.cn |language = ja |trans-title=A South Korean lawmaker calls on China to abolish the name of the "Sea of Japan" |access-date=14 May 2011}}</ref>
In 2003, the French Defense Ministry issued nautical maps that included both terms Sea of Japan and East Sea.<ref name="mofqafeb2003">{{cite web|title=Q&A on the Issue of the Name "Sea of Japan"|url=http://www.mofa.go.jp/policy/q_a/faq14.html|publisher=[[Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Japan)|Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan]]|access-date=22 November 2010|date=February 2003}}</ref> It reverted to Sea of Japan as a single name in the map issued in 2004.<ref>{{cite web | url =http://www.kaiho.mlit.go.jp/info/kouhou/h16/k20040713/0713kouhou.pdf | script-title=ja:フランス海軍海洋情報部刊行の海図目録 －「日本海」単独標記に－ | publisher = [[Japan Coast Guard]] |date=13 July 2004|access-date=22 November 2010|language = ja}}</ref> The United Kingdom and Germany officially use the Sea of Japan.<ref name="MOFAJ"/>

The [[United States Board on Geographic Names]] (BGN) continues to advocate the use of Sea of Japan without qualification in [[Federal government of the United States|U.S. government]] publications. [[The World Factbook]] published by the [[Central Intelligence Agency]] follows the BGN's guidance.<ref>{{cite web|title=FAQ|url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/docs/faqs.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070612214339/https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/docs/faqs.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=12 June 2007|publisher=[[Central Intelligence Agency]]|year=2010|access-date=8 November 2010}} Note: expand the "Policies" tab to see details.</ref> On 8 August 2011, a spokesman for the United States Department of State stated that the United States Board on Geographic Names considered the official name of the sea to be "Sea of Japan".{{Cn|date=February 2025}} 

Despite the U.S. government's position for the single use of Sea of Japan, in 2011, [[Virginia]] state lawmaker [[David W. Marsden]], acting on behalf of Korean-American voters, introduced a bill to the education panel of the [[Senate of Virginia]] that would have required public school textbooks to include both "Sea of Japan" and "East Sea" as names. The panel rejected the bill by an 8–7 vote on 26 January 2012.<ref>[[Jiji Press]], "Virginia sinks sea-renaming plan", ''[[Japan Times]]'', 31 January 2012, p. 2.</ref><ref>{{cite news | title='East Sea' textbook directive fails Senate panel | url=http://www.wtop.com/?sid=2722782&nid=120 | agency=Associated Press | access-date=28 April 2012}}</ref> The issue was revisited two years later on 3 February 2014, with the Education Committee of the [[Virginia House of Delegates]] passing legislation to use both "Sea of Japan" and "East Sea" in school textbooks.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0001001763 |title=Virginia nears law on Sea of Japan |publisher=The Japan News |access-date=24 February 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140307113844/http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0001001763 |archive-date=7 March 2014 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> This bill, House Bill (HB) No. 11, was finally passed by the Virginia House of Delegates on 6 February 2014, signed by the Governor on 28 March and became effective on 1 July. The bill states that "all textbooks approved by the Board of Education pursuant to §22.1-238 of the Code of Virginia, when referring to the Sea of Japan, shall note that it is also referred to as the East Sea."<ref>{{cite news|title=McAuliffe signs East Sea bill that pitted Korean Americans against Japan|first=Laura|last=Vozzella|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|location=Washington, D.C.|date=2 April 2014|accessdate=15 February 2025|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/mcauliffe-signs-east-sea-bill-that-pitted-korean-americans-against-japan/2014/04/02/891af00c-bab0-11e3-9a05-c739f29ccb08_story.html}}</ref>

On 29 June 2012, Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs [[Kurt M. Campbell]] affirmed the BGN's position in his response, published on the White House website, to the [[We the People (petitioning system)|We the People petition]] concerning the usage of "Sea of Japan", in which he stated, "It is longstanding United States policy to refer to each sea or ocean by a single name. This policy applies to all seas, including those bordered by multiple countries that may each have their own names for such bodies of water. Concerning the body of water between the Japanese archipelago and the Korean Peninsula, longstanding U.S. policy is to refer to it as the "Sea of Japan".<ref>{{cite web | title=Response to We the People Petition on the Sea of Japan Naming Issue | url=https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2012/06/29/response-we-people-petition-sea-japan-naming-issue | via=[[NARA|National Archives]] | work=[[whitehouse.gov]] | date=29 June 2012 | access-date=3 July 2012}}</ref> He also stated, "We are aware the Republic of Korea refers to the body of water as the 'East Sea,' and the United States is not asking the Republic of Korea to change its nomenclature. U.S. usage of the 'Sea of Japan' in no way implies an opinion regarding any issue related to sovereignty."<ref>[[Kyodo News]], "[http://info.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20120704b3.html U.S. to keep Sea of Japan on books] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222140447/http://info.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20120704b3.html |date=22 February 2014 }}", ''[[Japan Times]]'', 4 July 2012, p. 2</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2012-06-29|title=Response to We the People Petition on the Sea of Japan Naming Issue|url=https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2012/06/29/response-we-people-petition-sea-japan-naming-issue|access-date=2021-03-29|website=whitehouse.gov|language=en}}</ref>

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.<ref name="National Geographic Map Policy">{{cite web|title=National Geographic Map Policy|url=https://www.nationalgeographic.org/society/national-geographic-map-policy/|publisher=[[National Geographic Society]]|access-date=23 August 2024}}</ref>

In 2006, Google put both names on [[Google Earth]], using East Sea near the Korean coast and Sea of Japan near the Japanese coast.<ref name="KoreaTimes2006">{{cite news|last=Cho|first=Jin-Seo|title=Google asked to identify Korea correctly|url=http://www.asiamedia.ucla.edu/article-eastasia.asp?parentid=50214|access-date=21 September 2010|newspaper=[[The Korea Times]]|date=2 August 2006|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110520090640/http://www.asiamedia.ucla.edu/article-eastasia.asp?parentid=50214|archive-date=20 May 2011|df=dmy-all}}</ref> ''[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]'' states that Sea of Japan is also known as and called by East Sea. On the encyclopedia's map, Sea of Japan and East Sea are used concurrently.<ref name="Britannica-Sea of Japan/East Sea">{{cite web|title=Britannica-Sea of Japan/East Sea|url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Sea-of-Japan|publisher=[[Encyclopaedia Britannica]]|access-date=23 August 2024}}</ref>