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A Reef or a Rock? Question Puts Japan In a Hard Place

To Claim Disputed Waters, Charity Tries to Find Use For Okinotori Shima

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TOKYO -- Yoshihiko Yamada is determined to find new ways to defend Japan's territory from Chinese encroachment. Some ideas so far: building a prison, raising tuna and breeding billions of micro-organisms.

Mr. Yamada is trying to find some economic use for Okinotori Shima, an uninhabited coral reef that sits isolated in the deep blue Pacific Ocean 1,100 miles south of Tokyo. No matter how far-fetched, the ideas he picks could become reality, thanks to millions of dollars from Mr. Yamada's employer, the Nippon Foundation, a charity that finances patriotic projects.

The charity is wading into a diplomatic row between Tokyo ...

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