gaiben comments

@Davealltogether -- It depends on how you define "nefarious purposes." Although government agencies in most countries generally don't bother to track someone's data unless they think they have a reason to do so, there are a number of organizations that track all sorts of data from you, me and a host of other "insignificant people" for marketing purposes.

Many comments say this is an "only in Japan" problem, but that is because they lack knowledge of the laws elsewhere. There are many jurisdictions where national criminal laws only deal with certain types of offenses and other offenses are covered (or not) by local laws.

Asking the ICJ to resolve the dispute is a no-lose situation for Japan, for the following reasons:

If South Korea refuses to agree to allow the ICJ to exercise jurisdiction to resolve the dispute, it makes SK look as though it knows its claim is not valid.

If SK agrees to the jurisdiction of the ICJ and it rules in favor of Japan, then Japan would have the islands.

If SK agrees to the jurisdiction of the ICJ and it rules in favor of SK, even though Japan would not have these minor islands it would set a precedent for having the ICJ resolve disputed claims to island territories. That would provide Japan with a powerful argument that Russia also should agree to the jurisdiction of the ICJ to resolve the issues arising from Russia's refusal to return some of the northern islands it took control over at the end of WW II.