Japan seeks change to new UN world map over Russia 'misconception'

Read the original at The Guardian ↗
Cite

Tokyo, A. F. P. i. (2026, September 11). Japan seeks change to new UN world map over Russia 'misconception'. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/sep/10/japan-seeks-change-to-new-un-world-map-over-russia-misconception

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

The Guardian · collected 2026-09-11 · by Agence France-Presse in Tokyo

Quick Summary

Japan has asked the operator of a new UN world map, known as the Equal Earth cartographic projection, to revise the map because it incorrectly shows the Kuril islands belonging to Russia. The disputed islands are also known in Japan as the Northern Territories and have been at the center of a long-standing territorial dispute between Japan and Russia. 164 UN members voted to adopt the new map on Friday, but it has drawn criticism for its depiction of the African continent larger while shrinking North America and Europe. Japanese government spokesperson Minoru Kihara lodged a protest with the map operator through diplomatic channels to demand correction.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-09-11, using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the same event (that is the story summary below).

AI analysis runs on qwen2.5:14b, locally

Story summary

September 4th, 164 countries, including France and the UK, voted in favor of a resolution at the UN General Assembly to adopt a new world map that more accurately reflects the size of Africa. Only the US voted against it, with six other states abstaining. The new map, known as the Equal Earth cartographic projection, aims to provide a more accurate representation of continental landmasses and reduce distortions caused by the traditional Mercator projection, which has been widely used since the 16th century. According to Foreign Minister Robert Dussey of Togo, "a fair world begins with a fair map," highlighting the importance of cartography in shaping our understanding of the world. The resolution promotes the use of the Equal Earth projection over the Mercator projection, which distorts the relative size of land masses by expanding those nearer the poles, making Greenland appear roughly the same size as Africa, although Africa is about 14 times larger.

Written for “UN Adopts New World Map” on 2026-10-27, grounded in this article and the 24 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 UN Adopts New World Map
World · 25 article(s) covering the same event. Compare every outlet's account →

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 0% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
U.N. backs new world map showing Africa's true size same event · 100%
CBS News
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 3 📰 publisher trust 66
“Both articles describe the UN's adoption of a new world map, which is the same specific event mentioned in both texts.”
India votes in favour of UNGA resolution endorsing new world map same event · 100%
The Hindu
⚖️ Leans left 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 8 📰 publisher trust 60
“Both articles describe the same UN General Assembly resolution adoption, citing the same number of votes (164 in favor) and date (September 4, 2026)”
Japan, India, Ukraine: Why some countries are uneasy about new UN map same event · 100%
Al Jazeera
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 6% hedged 3 of 51 📰 publisher trust 60
“Both articles describe the same UN General Assembly voting to adopt a new world map, which happened on the same day and had similar details”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
11
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
0%
0 of 11 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
withheld
no quote in the article backed the model's score
Publisher signals
66/100
The Guardian's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
25
World
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-09-11 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

The Guardian · 2506 article(s) · 6 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 6 correction(s)
2026-10-19
Mother assessed as posing no immediate risk to others three weeks before Elizabeth Struhs’ manslaughter, inquest hears
2026-10-14
Rachel Smith will turn 39 in prison. The high court says she could freeze her eggs from behind bars
2026-10-03
Tennessee’s top prison official resigning after botched execution of Christa Pike
2026-10-01
Tennessee governor suspends all executions after Christa Pike’s lethal injections fail
2026-09-28
Extra 1,000 prison beds announced in NSW as union warns against arresting ‘our way out of domestic violence’
2026-09-05
Australia’s housing prices are trending down. See which suburbs have had the biggest falls

Who wrote this

Agence France-Presse in Tokyo
1 article(s) here · 0 carrying a prediction
The only article under this byline in the corpus.

Topics

Japan Japanese Moscow Russia Ukraine

Subjects

Japan GPE · 7× Japanese NORP · 4× Russia GPE · 3× Moscow GPE · 2× Ukraine GPE · 2× African NORP · 1× Crimea GPE · 1× Kihara PERSON · 1× Minoru Kihara PERSON · 1× Soviet Union GPE · 1×

Narrative

Japan was among the 164 UN members that supported the resolution, but has now taken issue with it because it shows the Kurils, known in Japan as the Northern Territories, in the same colour as Russia. Ukraine last week abstained in the UN vote on the map as it showed occupied Crimea in a different colour to the rest of the country, which its representatives at the UN warned opens a “Pandora’s box” violating the UN charter and international law. Japanese government spokesperson Minoru Kihara on Thursday said the new map – known as the Equal Earth cartographic projection – “contained a depiction contradicting the Japanese government’s position”. “We lodged a protest with the map site’s operator through our diplomatic channel to demand the correction of this depiction,” Kihara told reporters.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-09-11
2026-09-11 · The Guardian
Japan seeks change to new UN world map over Russia 'misconception' · assertive framing

Claims (11 extracted, 0 hedged)

Japan has asked for the revision of a new world map adopted by the UN because it said it made the disputed Kuril islands appear to belong to Russia. asserted
islands → ask → Russia
The UN general assembly voted on Friday to adopt the new map, which makes the African continent larger while also shrinking North America and Europe, drawing condemnation from the US. asserted
continent → vote → US
Japan was among the 164 UN members that supported the resolution, but has now taken issue with it because it shows the Kurils, known in Japan as the Northern Territories, in the same colour as Russia. Ukraine last week abstained in the UN vote on the map as it showed occupied Crimea in a different colour to the rest of the country, which its representatives at the UN warned opens a “Pandora’s box” violating the UN charter and international law. Japanese government spokesperson Minoru Kihara on Thursday said the new map – known as the Equal Earth cartographic projection – “contained a depiction contradicting the Japanese government’s position”. “We lodged a protest with the map site’s operator through our diplomatic channel to demand the correction of this depiction,” Kihara told reporters. asserted
Kihara → support → reporters
He declined to say when the issue was brought to government’s attention but said Japan “needs to prevent misconceptions of our territories and geographical names from spreading”. asserted
Japan → decline → territories
The disputed islands were seized in 1945 by the former Soviet Union, which then expelled the Japanese population. asserted
which → dispute → population
Relations between Japan and Russia soured significantly last month, when the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, made a surprise visit to the disputed islands for the first time. asserted
president → sour → time
Japan swiftly summoned Moscow’s ambassador, with the prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, saying Putin’s visit “offends the sentiments of the Japanese people”, adding that it was “absolutely unacceptable”. asserted
it → summon → people
She said the islands were “an inherent part of Japan’s territory, both historically and under international law”. asserted
islands → say → law
Moscow quickly hit back, saying it “categorically” rejects such statements, “which we consider politically inappropriate, insulting and, of course, legally unfounded”. asserted
we → hit → course
The UN said the new map aimed to present “a more accurate representation” of continental landmasses than was portrayed by more traditional Mercator projections. asserted
map → say → projections
Ukraine was last week among six countries that abstained in the vote. asserted
that → abstain → vote
💬Give feedback
🕘History 🎫Support
Terms · Privacy · beta v2.0.0
Articles to 27 Oct 2026