• Journal of the Korean association of regional geographers
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.600-616
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• 2011

Since the Shimane Prefecture government in Japan enacted "Takeshima Day" in March 2005, it has held commemorative ceremonies with Japanese politicians present each year on February 22. Japan has marked Dokdo as its territory in elementary and middle high school textbooks, and the number of such references has been increasing in recent years. Shimane Prefecture, which is the area nearest to Dokdo is strengthening Dokdo education in its geography classes at elementary and middle schools as part of regional studies. The study and education on Dokdo was begun by social studies teachers in the Oki Islands in Shimane Prefecture, but now extends throughout the prefecture. The auxiliary educational materials regarding Dokdo produced in Shimane Prefecture include teaching guidelines for teachers, worksheets for students, CDs containing statistics and picture files, and two kinds of DVD movie clips for each grade. In particular, schools teach the damage to the Japanese fishery industry caused by Korea's illegal occupation of Dokdo. This will likely form anti-Korean sentiments among Japanese students. It is hoped that Korean and Japanese scholars will work together to develop Dokdo auxiliary textbooks in order to improve the correct historical understanding of Dokdo.