Japanese Foreign Ministry confirms Shinichi Nishimiya , 60 , died on Sunday . He was the first person to be killed in a tsunami that hit Japan last week. His death comes amid worsening relations between China and Japan . Japan says it saw no trace of Chinese control of the islands in an 1885 survey , so formally recognized them as Japanese sovereign territory in 1895 . Both countries claim sovereignty over a group of islands in the East China Sea .
Japanese Foreign Ministry confirms Shinichi Nishimiya , 60 , died on Sunday . He was the first person to be killed in a tsunami that hit Japan last week. His death comes amid worsening relations between China and Japan . Both countries claim sovereignty over a group of islands in the East China Sea .