KURIL ISLANDS CONFLICT BETWEEN RUSSIA AND JAPAN

Istanbul Kent University

Regional Studies

Prof. Dr. Herbert R. Reginbogin

Nodira Safaeva1

Due to the fact that Russia and Ukraine are in hostile relations and other countries that

support Ukraine are introducing sanctions against Russia, disagreements in terms of dividing

territories in the Far East become relevant. In my research, I will study and describe the

details of the conflict between Japan and Russia. This conflict began at the end of World War

II and has continued for more than 78 years. By and large, Japan lays claim to the Kuril

Islands, and Russia believes that this issue has long been resolved and everything is clear. We

also need to take the position of other international participants on the issue.

History of the conflict

Kuril Islands (Chishima Islands - Japanese) are a group of Habomai Islands, which

includes the Islands of Suisho, Yuri, Akiyuri, Shibotsu and Taraku, as well as the Island of

Shikotan (Shikotan). They were all removed from Japanese control and possession in

accordance with the provisions of Japanese Government Memorandum No. 677 of January

29, 1946, by General Douglas MacArthur, the head of the American occupied army. By

Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, the Southern-Sakhalin and

Kuril Islands became possessions of the USSR. Finally, the Japanese government officially

recognized the abandonment of the Kuril Islands and southern parts of Sakhalin Island in the

San Francisco Peace Treaty (September 8, 1951).2

1
Мaster's student of the Department at Istanbul Kent University Political Science and International Relations
(English) department.
Email: nadasafaeva5@gmail.com
2
Peace Treaty with Japan, signed in San Francisco on September 8, 1951 // [Electronic resource] URL:
https://yandex.ru/search/?
text=SanFrancisco+peace+treaty(8+September+1951+&lr=215984&clid=2261452&win=467 (Date of access:
15/11/2023).

1
 Parties to the conflict and issues about which it arose

In the 1790s. due to the connection of Primorsky Krai and the Amur region and the

colonization of Russian America, the Russian Empire turned out to be insufficiently attentive

to the Kuril Islands; Japan caught this moment. In the 1880s, a Japanese settlement appeared

on Iturup due to the displacement of the Russian population. There was a military garrison at

this place, this became the reason that in 1820 Russian settlements on the borders were

moved to the Island of Urup. 3 In 1855, the Shimoda Treaty established the first Russian-

Japanese delimitation border between Urup and Iturup, and Sakhalin was left undivided. 4 In

1875, the Russian-Japanese agreement was signed Petersburg Treaty, according to which the

Kuril Islands were transferred to the sovereignty of Japan – from Urup to Shumshu5, and

Japan in exchange for this refused benefit to Russia from the Island Sakhalin.6

How does the conflict impact group identities, beliefs, values, sense of belonging,

and security?

But starting in the late 19th century, the Japanese government tightened its foreign

policy because it wanted to create its own colonial empire. In 1904, without declaring war,

Japan attacked Russia. The Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905 ended unfavorably for Russia,

and changes occurred in terms of the Russian-Japanese border. The new Russian-Japanese

border was drawn “along the First Island of the Kuril Strait between Shumshu and

Kamchatka - on the Kuril Islands and along the 50th parallel of the highway – on Sakhalin”

(Article 9).7

3
Plotnikov A. Yu. Russian Far Eastern Border in the 18th – first half of the 20th centuries. Two Hundred and
Fifty Years of Movement Russia to the East. - M.: KomKniga 2007, 73-74.
4
Mazurov I.V. Formation of the Eastern Borders of Russia. Russian-Japanese Delimitation of the 20th Century.
- Khabarovsk: DVIU 2015, 150-155.
5
Plotnikov A. Yu. Russian Far Eastern Border in the 18th – first half of the 20th centuries. Two Hundred and
Fifty Years of Movement Russia to the East. - M.: KomKniga 2007, 82-87.
6
Kireev A.A. Russian-Japanese Relations around the Southern Kuril Islands: History, Current State,
Development Options // [Electronic resource] URL: https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/rossiysko-yaponskie-
otnosheniya-vokrug-yuzhnyh-kuril-istoriyasovremennoe-sostoyanie-varianty-razvitiy
(Date of access: 16/11/2023).
7
Plotnikov A. Yu. Russian Far Eastern Border in the 18th – first half of the 20th centuries. Two Hundred and
Fifty Years of Movement Russia to the East. - M.: KomKniga 2007, 86-87.

2
 Japan's ongoing hostility towards Russia showed itself in the Japanese invasion of

Vladivostok in 1918. At the same moment, Japan wanted to appropriate the Amur region and

Transbaikalia and the northern part of Sakhalin Island in 1920-1925. Russian-Japanese

relations became better when they signed the Convention on Basic Principles of Relations

between the USSR and Japan in Beijing on January 20, 1925.8

In 1941, on April 13, Russia and Japan supported the Soviet-Japanese neutrality pact

for a period of five years, in which they promised to respect each other's borders and not try

to appropriate someone else's land (Article 1). Article 3 stated: "...and if none of the

contracting parties cancels the pact for a year before its expiration, it shall be automatically

renewed for another five years."9

What is contributing to the persistence of the conflict?

Regardless of the fact that Russia and Japan signed the pact for them, it was a tactic to

stall for time. The Japanese military, not following the agreements of the Pact, did not stop

military attacks. They stopped and sank Soviet merchant ships, provided Nazi Germany with

intelligence information.10

The issue of Soviet-Japanese relations between the allies in the anti-Hitler coalition

was discussed at the Yalta Conference in the laboratory in 1945. The three great powers

(USSR, USA, Great Britain) agreed among themselves that the USSR would begin to fight

with militaristic Japan 2-3 months after the end of the war in Europe in order to return South

Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands after the end of hostilities. On April 5, 1945, the Soviet Union

announced that the Soviet-Japanese neutrality treaty was no longer active and Japan was to

blame. On August 9, 1945, the USSR went to war against Japan. In September-August, the
8
Convention on the Basic Principles of Relations between the USSR and Japan of January 20, 1925 //
[Electronic resource] URL: http://docs.historyrussia.org/ru/nodes/138564-konventsiya-ob-osnovnyh-printsipah-
vzaimootnosheniy-mezhdusoyuzom-sovetskih-sotsialisticheskih-respublik-i-yaponiey-20-yanvarya-1925-g
(Date of access: 24/11/23).
9
Neutrality Pact between the USSR and Japan April 13, 1941 // [Electronic resource] URL:
http://www.japantoday.ru/ofitsialniy-dokumenty/pakt-o-neytralitet-mezhdu-sssr-i-yaponiey-13-aprelya-1941-
g.htm (Date of access: 26/11/23).
10
USSR weekly magazine "A red star" – 1965, September 2.

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Japanese army liberated Northeast China, North Korea, South Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands.

On September 2, 1945, Japan had no choice but to sign the act of unconditional surrender.

The Supreme Presidium of the USSR issued a decree on February 2, 1946, in accordance

with which Southern Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands “were united into the Southern-Sakhalin

region of the Khabarovsk Territory of the RSFSR. Japanese properties in the region were

nationalized and the local Japanese population was repatriated to Japan."11

In what way does one party group to the conflict see another as an enemy?

Of course, Russia, like all other countries, does not prefer to divide its territory for

certain reasons. As an example, in the scientific work of Yu. K. Ivashinnikov, he points out:

“The southern Kuril states express an important role for the state, due to its

superiority in military-strategic and economic terms. These are certain reserves of metals,

including rare (rhenium) and precious (gold and silver). The entire value of these inferred

minerals is about $9.7 billion.12 By the way, the best thing about the Kuril Islands is that it is

a very convenient location for military and civil shipping, because the Kuril Islands are “the

only straits in Russia that do not freeze in winter. These are the Ekaterina and Vries straits,

which flow into the Pacific Ocean from the Sea of Okhotsk."13

This is how diplomatic relations developed between Japan and Russia, and it was no

longer possible to correct it. The United States had to answer for not following the terms of

the 1956 Soviet-Japanese Declaration. In 1960, on January 19, in Washington, Japan signed

the Japanese-American Agreement on Mutual Cooperation and Security Guarantees between

11
Panov A.N. The Problem of Russian-Japanese Territorial Demarcation // Asia-Pacific Region: Regional
Problems, International Organizations and Economic Groupings. Directory. - M.: East-West 2012, 101-102.
12
Ivashinnikov Yu. K. Countries of the Sea of Japan Region and China. Economic Development and
Environmental Problems: textbook. manual for universities. - Vladivostok: Far Eastern Publishing House.
University 2007, 81.
13
The Problem of the Kuril Islands in Russian-Japanese Relations: on the History of the Problem //
[Electronic resource] URL: https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/problema-kurilskih-ostrovov-v-rossiysko-
yaponskih-otnosheniyah-k-istorii-problemy (Date of access: 01/12/2023).

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the United States and Japan, which stated that the United States would establish its military

bases on Japanese lands.14

The USSR considered the signing of the US-Japanese agreement as a danger to itself

and its partner at that time, the neighboring country - China. On January 27 and February 24,

1960, the USSR reminded Japan of the “Memoirs,” noting that as long as this agreement

exists that threatens the Soviet Union and the People’s Republic of China, the USSR will not

even think about giving the Islands of Habomai and Shikotan to Japanese power. Because

this means that foreign military will use these lands.15

Efforts to resolve the conflict and the reasons of their success or failure

Japanese ministers visited the USSR several times in a row, after that relations began

to improve. But this time the government of the USSR decided to be very categorical that the

Kuril Islands were, are and will be Russian territories. But during the years of “perestroika” -

from 1985 to 1990 - important political decisions were made.16

But all the conversations that happened later did not bring the expected result. In

2000, President of the Russian Federation V.V Putin during his official visit to Japan, talked

to the Japanese Prime Minister. They decided to continue to negotiate on the basis of

previously reached agreements (Tokyo (1993) and Moscow (1998) declarations).17

In 2020 Yoshihide Suga came to power, relations between Russia and Japan became

colder.18
14
Nelidov V.V. Half a Century of the US-Japan Security Treaty: Some Results and Prospects. // [Electronic
resource] URL: https://yandex.ru/search/?text=Nelidov+V.V.
+Half+a+century+of+the+American+Japanese+security+treaty
%3A+some+results+and+prospects+&lr=215984&clid=2261452&win=467 (Date of access: 03/12/2023).
15
History of Japan. In 2 vols. T. II. 1868-1998. 2nd ed., rev. and additional - M.: Institute of Oriental Studies
RAS 1999, 573-574.
16
History of Russian-Japanese Relations: XVIII-early XXI centuries / Under. ed. S.V. Grishacheva. - M.:
Aspect Press 2015, 327-329.
17
Statement by the President of the Russian Federation and the Prime Minister of Japan on the Issue of the
Peace Treaty // [Electronic resource] URL: https://docs.cntd.ru/document/901923591
(Date of access: 04/12/2023).
18
Prime Minister M. Mishustin arrived in Iturup, where he spoke about the development of Far Territories //
[Electronic resource] URL: https://www.1tv.ru/news/2021-07-26/410446-
premier_mihail_mishustin_pribyl_na_iturup_gde_govoril_o_razvitii_dalnih_territoriy
(Date of access: 04/12/2023).

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 Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation D.A. Medvedev

in an official statement said that “Russia will not negotiate a peace treaty with Japan. If we

consider how events developed regarding the fate of the Kuril Islands, then this choice is

historically justified, timely and honest. It is clear that we would never have found any

consensus with the Japanese on the issue of the Kuril Islands. We and they realized this

earlier. This means that negotiations about the Kuril Islands have always been of a ritual

nature. The problem is closed."19

Theoretically, another (non-standard) way is also possible - economic integration

respective territories by both countries, which means the possibility of Japan's active

participation in the economic development of this territory, but while maintaining sovereignty

over the territory for Russia. An example is the experience of resolving similar territorial

contradictions between Finland and Sweden over the Aland Islands. Specified disputed

territory after the Crimean War of 1853–1856 under the Paris Peace Treaty of 1856 received

a special status of a demilitarized zone, which was confirmed by the Aland Convention 1921

and the Paris Peace Treaty (Peace Treaty with Finland) of 1947. The Aland Islands are

autonomous in part of Finland, but the official language on their territory is Swedish.

Thus, the Kuril Islands have the potential to become a prosperous region thanks to the

efforts of Russia and Japan. Therefore, I believe that they should concentrate on cooperation

and take a step towards meeting each other.

19
Official Statement by D.A. Medvedev March 22, 2022/ TASS // [Electronic resource] URL:
https://tass.ru/politika/14141973 (Date of access: 05/12/2023).