The long-time dispute erupted this week when the Shimane provincial assembly voted to designate February 22 "Takeshima Day'' to mark Tokyo's claim. The move was symbolic, but the central government in Tokyo has refused to repudiate the action.

Broadening the dispute to another previously contested territory, South Korea's Masan city council voted to mark June 19 as ``Daemado Day,'' the Korean name for Japan's Tsushima islands just 50 kilometres off the southeastern tip of the Korean peninsula.

Some Korean historians argue those islands - considerably larger than the other disputed islets and home to 40,500 people - were once controlled by Korea, and the date commemorates the day in the 15th century when Korean General Yi Jong Mu went there to conquer it.

And demonstrations outside the Japanese embassy in central Seoul continued Friday, with the most startling scene that of a man pouring paint thinner on himself and jumping into a fire where protesters were burning Japanese flags and boxes symbolizing Japanese goods. He was rushed to hospital but was out of danger. Other protesters have cut off their fingers.

To reinforce Seoul's claim to the islets, five lawmakers flew to the islets by helicopter to reaffirm it is South Korean territory. South Korea keeps a small detachment of police there. And South Korea's Coast Guard is reinforcing patrols around the islets, doubling the number of ships responsible for monitoring the area to six.