These are photos of Ogasawara Islands submitted by Ministry of the Interior to Grand Council of State in February, 1876. The islands were almost uninhabited till closing days of Tokugawa Shogunate (- 1867). In 1827, the captain of a British warship declared the islands to be British territory. In 1853, Commodore Matthew C. Perry purchased part of land on the islands. Disputes on ownership of the islands continued. In November, 1875, officials of Ministries of Foreign Affairs, the Interior , Finance and Navy were dispatched to the islands and declared to 71 inhabitants that the islands were territory of Japan. In the following year, the islands were placed under jurisdiction of Ministry of the Interior and Minister of Foreign Affairs Terajima officially notified the other countries about Japanese sovereignty over the islands. No objection was raised to possession of the islands by Japan. In 1880, administration of the islands was transferred to Tokyo Prefecture. The photos were taken when the officials from the four ministries were dispatched and mainly show Chichijima Island. "Kobun Fuzoku no Zu" (Picutures and charts affiliated with Kobun Roku)containing these photos were designated as National Important Cultural Properties of Japan in 1998 together with "Kobunroku"(Compiled Records of the Grand Council of Statee)