其次，自日本1874年首次入侵台湾至1894年发动甲午战争这20年间，日本海军省绘制的《清国沿海诸省》图和出版的各种水路志，均认定钓鱼岛、黄尾屿、赤尾屿是台湾东北诸岛。日本外务省、陆军省也先后对海军省所绘地图进行了确认。1885年，日本吞并琉球国改称冲绳县6年后，日本时任内务卿山县有朋便两次密令冲绳县在钓鱼岛等无人岛建立日本的标桩，但遭到当时冲绳县令和外务大臣婉拒，理由便是日本占领这些岛屿可能与中国发生冲突。如果他们当时即认定钓鱼岛及其附属岛屿是"无主地"，又怎么会担心与中国发生冲突呢？

Later, between 1874 (when Japan first invaded Taiwan) and 1894 (when the Sino-Japanese War began), all kinds of maps and literature drafted by the Navy Ministry of Japan, including one that lays out all the coastal provinces of the Qing court, identified Diaoyu Island, Huangwei Island and Chiwei Island as northeastern islands of Taiwan. Japan's Foreign Ministry and Army Ministry also confirmed the accuracy of those maps. In 1885, six years after Japan annexed Ryukyu as Okinawa Prefecture, then Home Minister Yamagata Aritomo secretly asked the Prefecture to set up sovereignty marks on "no-man islands" like Diaoyu Island. The governor of Okinawa Prefecture and the Foreign Minister rejected this maneuver since the occupation of these islands could trigger conflicts with China. Of course, if they had actually believed Diaoyu Island and its affiliated islands were unclaimed, they would have had no such concerns.

第三，甲午战争前20年日本海军省一直认为钓鱼岛及其附属岛屿是台湾东北诸岛，其主要依据来自两方面：一是从英国海军1848年出版的《萨玛朗号航海记（1843—1846）》到1894年的英国海军文献及地图，均把钓鱼岛及其附属岛屿作为台湾东北诸岛记载，明确认定赤尾屿是中国这一岛链的最东端。二是中国清朝1863年出版的《大清一统舆图》。该图也清楚地把钓鱼岛划入中国台湾岛屿，而把赤尾屿对面的琉球属岛"久米岛"用不同方式标出。这些历史证据充分证明，在中日两国围绕钓鱼岛归属发生争议的"关键日期"之前，钓鱼岛确属中国。

Looking further back to 20 years before the First Sino-Japanese War, it is clear that the Japanese navy believed Diaoyu Island and its affiliated islands were northeastern islands of Taiwan. For one thing, the nautical journal of H.M.S. Samarang, which chronicled the years 1843-1846 and was published in 1848, as well as other literature and maps published by the British Navy, all marked Diaoyu Island and its affiliated islands as northeastern islands of Taiwan while confirming Chiwei Island as the eastern end of the Chinese island chain. In addition, the Qing Dynasty atlas, published in 1863, also designates Diaoyu Island as being under the jurisdiction of Taiwan. Kume-jima, an affiliated island of Ryukyu facing Chiwei Island, was marked in a different color. This ample historical evidence shows that, before the "critical period" when the dispute over sovereignty of Diaoyu Island escalated, Diaoyu Island always belonged to China.

二、甲午战争前日本偷猎者已知钓鱼岛是中国的无人岛

II. Japan knew Diaoyu Island was uninhabited before its poachers landed