Kunioki Kurihara has shunned the spotlight since closing a deal to sell three uninhabited islands in the East China Sea to Japan's government in September. The islands are also claimed by China and deemed part of its national territory for centuries. The sale sent tension soaring between Tokyo and Beijing. "It's odd that they owned the islands for so long," said Jeffrey Kingston, director of Asia Studies at Temple University, Japan Campus. "It's only now that the ante is up."