A Japanese geographical name expert said Japan is free to decide on its own if it will follow U.S. President Donald Trump's demands that the Gulf of Mexico and Mount Denali be renamed.

Hiroshi Tanabe, a professor emeritus at the University of Tokyo, said the name changes are not being forced on other countries. 

On Jan. 20, after taking office for the second time, Trump signed an executive order requiring the Secretary of the Interior to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America, and revert Denali, the highest peak in North America, to its former name, the Mount McKinley.

In accordance with the order, the Department of the Interior on Jan. 24, announced the implementation of the name changes.

However, the Associated Press will continue to use the Gulf of Mexico name acknowledging the new name Trump has chosen.

On Feb. 11, the White House blocked an Associated Press reporter from an event in the Oval Office after threatening the news agency to align its editorial standards with the Trump order, and if not, AP would lose its access to the Oval Office.

In a prepared statement, AP Executive Editor Julie Pace stated, “It is alarming that the Trump administration would punish AP for its independent journalism.

“Limiting our access to the Oval Office based on the content of AP’s speech not only severely impedes the public’s access to independent news, it plainly violates the First Amendment,” Pace said.

Do other countries, such as Japan, also need to change the names of these places to follow the U.S. decision?

The Asahi Shimbun asked Tanabe, who has participated in the United Nations Conference on the Standardization of Geographical Names several times as a member of the Japanese government’s delegation.

Tanabe, who was born in 1936, has served as a professor at the University of Tokyo, Keio University and Teikyo University.

He also served as principal of Hiroo Gakuen Junior and Senior High School.

Excerpts of the interview follow:

Question: Is there a need for each country to match every U.S. place name change?

Tanabe: Basically, there is no need to do so. Each country is free to decide.

The United Nations has the Conference on the Standardization of Geographical Names, where, for example, each country reports on how it has changed the name of a place in a foreign language, and discusses how the place name in each country would be written in Latin characters.

The content that is confirmed for unification is then presented to each country as a guideline, but each country is free to decide whether or not to adopt the guideline. Basically, a decision by one country to change a place name is not forced on other countries.

Q: What is your impression of the U.S. place name changes?

A: Although it is up to the U.S. to decide what to call each place in the U.S., I have the impression that Denali, for example, is going against the world's trend.

Originally, in many cases, place names were spontaneously derived from the appellations used by residents, such as “big mountain” or “sea in the east.” In addition, many place names are named after the people who created the village or after saints.

However, since place names in countries with a history of colonialism were changed in the language of the former colonial power, when many African countries became independent after World War II, there were demands to change the names from colonial-era place names to the original place names.

Because of these demands, the major trend after WWII was to return to the way the place was originally called by the original inhabitants. So, changing the indigenous name Denali to McKinley would be a different direction.

I don’t know what the international reaction will be or whether other countries will follow suit.

Q: How do private companies such as map companies respond? These days, we often look at maps provided by large overseas companies, such as Google Maps, on the internet, rather than in map books.

A: Basically, I think they often adapt to the notation of the country to which the maps are sold. Companies such as Google also adapt to the standards of the country to which they are provide (their services), and then use both names for locations that may be controversial.

However, if Trump were to order U.S. companies and others that handle maps to change the place names on maps that are displayed in other countries to match the U.S. notation, I am not sure how the companies would respond.

Q: Is it common for place names to change suddenly as a result of a change in political leadership?

A: To ensure that place names are not easily changed at the discretion of government officials, many countries have place name committees to discuss place name changes. Not only politicians, but also linguists and geographers serve on such committee, and place name changes are decided through multifaceted discussions. The U.S. also has such a committee, but since it is a government body, I am not sure what kind of discussions can be held under Trump.

In fact, Japan is unusual among major countries in that it does not have a place name committee in place, making it easier for local governments to change place names at their discretion.

We are discussing whether a place name committee should be created in Japan, but since there is no corresponding ministry, we are not making much progress.

Q: What place names are often disputed?

A: The most controversial issue at the U.N. is the Sea of Japan and the East Sea. For the sea area that Japan and other countries call “Sea of Japan,” South Korea and North Korea insist on changing the name to “East Sea,” which is what their countries call it.

Other arguments include that “Indian Ocean” is not appropriate because it does not belong to India, and that the name “Persian Gulf” is strange because Saudi Arabia is along its coastline.

How to call a place is important. I have been to many parts of the world and have always paid attention to how the names of the places are called in each location.