"On 23 August 2012 Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda said there is no doubt that the islands, known as the Senkaku Islands in Japan, are an integral part of Japan and he denied that sovereignty over the island chain is being disputed. The Meiji government incorporated the Senkaku Islands into Okinawa Prefecture in 1895 after it had confirmed that the islands were not under the control of the Qing Dynasty, Noda said, adding that China had not asserted sovereignty over the Senkaku until the 1970s when it learned that the islands are possibly situated nearby large reserves of oil." (Quoted from article)