As of the end of January, 642 Japanese had registered their legal addresses as isles subject to territorial disputes with neighboring countries, despite living elsewhere, a Kyodo News survey of municipalities found Tuesday.
The number of such registrations in a January 2011 survey by Kyodo reached about 520. The recent rise apparently reflects heightened tensions between Japan and China, South Korea and Russia over contested territories.
Japanese citizens are allowed to register any place claimed by Japan as their legal residence, even if they do not actually live there, as long as the place in question has a land number allocated by domestic authorities.