By Ramy Inocencio, for CNN

updated 5:35 AM EDT, Fri October 25, 2013

This disputed islands in the East China Sea are known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Hong Kong (CNN) -- Japan is using YouTube to bolster assertions of ownership over islands also claimed by neighboring China and South Korea.

Japan's Foreign Ministry published the two videos on its official YouTube channel, under the username MOFAchannel, October 16.

In one, Tokyo's claim over the Senkaku islands -- known as the Diaoyu islands in China -- are supported through old black-and-white photographs and a timeline of events starting with a document dating back to 1895.

In the other, similar pictures and a chronology of events starting from 1900 illustrate Japan's claim to the Takeshima islands, known as the Dokdo islands in Korean.

Both videos have received more than half a million page views since they were published.

China and South Korea both criticized Japan's social media push.

Original post:

Japan deploys YouTube as new weapon in islands dispute