Tokyo's controversial governor, Shintaro Ishihara, has set up a special account to collect donations for the purchase of the islands. He claims the islands are owned by a private Japanese company. He's also planning an organization to make preparations to step onto the islands.

The donation plan kicked off on Friday. Ishihara says the special organization to manage the procedures of landing on the island will take shape by May 1st. The announcement of purchasing the Diaoyu Islands was first made at a press conference in Washington by Shintaro Ishihara, who was a guest speaker at the Heritage Foundation. He says the purchase is to protect the islands from Chinese claims.

To counter these allegations, China reiterated its sovereignty over the territory. The Chinese Foreign Ministry says any unilateral action taken by Japan concerning the Diaoyu Islands is illegal and invalid.