In 1978, the Japanese government registered the name "Tsushima Basin" with the International Hydrographic Bureau.

In April 2006, Japan's plans to survey the region and South Korea's plans to register the name "Ulleung Basin" with the International Hydrographic Bureau resulted in a diplomatic standoff between the two countries.

Nine of 15 exploratory wells have contained gas, a rate indicating high potential prospects.

[3] A feature of the southwestern Sea of Japan is a deep, developing continental shelf.

The eastern Oki Islands, a big ridge of three rows lines up in parallel to the Japanese archipelago, and it connects with a Yamato Basin which has expanded from Oki Islands and offshore of the Tōhoku region to the south in between those.