The Struggle for Hegemony on the Seabed: The Unknown Geopolitics of Submarine Cables

When the commercialization of the internet began in the mid-1990s, it was often said that "the internet belongs to America." I think this is both right and wrong, but in any case, I became curious about what things were like before then and started researching.

I discovered that in the 19th century, the British Empire had spread a telegraph network across the globe, controlling approximately two-thirds of it. The first submarine cable was laid across the Strait of Dover between Britain and France in 1851, seven years before the founding of Keio University.

From there, my journey of exploring submarine cables began.

This book is a record of my humanitarian medical aid activities in Gaza from August to September 2024 as an emergency response coordinator (head of field operations) for Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). It also touches upon the problems the people of Gaza face daily and their background. I wanted to examine the issues in Gaza from a more multifaceted perspective and bring their significance to light with concrete detail.

Old cables from an era when burial technology was immature can still be seen on the seabed in shallow waters. For example, the first submarine cable connected to Hawaii in 1902 is still on the seabed near Waikiki Beach.

However, modern submarine cables cannot be seen unless you go quite deep to prevent them from being cut by fishing nets or anchors. Instead, I began searching for onshore facilities called landing stations whenever I went on overseas business trips. These are literally facilities for pulling cables up from the seabed.

Landing stations during the Cold War era were built underground so they could survive a nuclear strike. A landing station from that era I was shown in the United States was built inside a military base. Modern landing stations are simpler, often windowless buildings, but their locations are frequently kept secret for security reasons.

Cable huts from the era of the Empire of Japan also remain quietly in various locations. The cable hut in Wakkanai, Hokkaido, connected to Sakhalin, and the one in Nemuro connected to the Northern Territories. Ishigaki Island was connected to Taiwan. Re-examining Japan's modern history through submarine cables is very interesting.

However, submarine cables are often cut during wartime. In both World Wars, several cables were cut at the outbreak of hostilities. In recent years, there have been a series of cable-cutting "accidents" in the Baltic Sea and the waters near Taiwan. While cargo ships or fishing boats snag and break the cables, it is doubtful whether these are truly accidents.

For an island nation like Japan, 99 percent of modern international communications pass through submarine cables. Submarine cables can be called the lifeline of the information society.

The Struggle for Hegemony on the Seabed: The Unknown Geopolitics of Submarine Cables

Motohiro Tsuchiya

Nikkei Business Publications

284 pages, 2,860 yen (tax included)