Sixty Years of Slow Progress

Japan and Russia will cerebrate sixtieth anniversary of Japan-Russia Joint Declaration this year. Eleven years after finishing major battles, the declaration officially marked the end of status of war between two nations and restored diplomatic relations. The greatest thing unimplemented is to return Sikotan Island and Habomai Archiperago to Japan after concluding a peace treaty. It is unclear whether both leaders reach an agreement to settle the dispute over the Northern Territory with in this year.

The declaration was agreed by Japan soon after the unification of two major conservative parties and Soviet Union led by communist regime. “[T]he Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, desiring to meet the wishes of Japan and taking into consideration the interest of the Japanese State, agrees to transfer to Japan the Habomai Islands and the island of Shikotan,” reads the document of the declaration. Then Japanese Prime Minister, Ichiro Hatoyama, was willing to make a deal putting priority of those islands.

United States firmly opposed the two-island solution. “If Japan recognizes Kunashiri and Etorofu as territory of Soviet Union, U.S. will not return Okinawa under U.S. administration,” said U.S. Secretary of State, John Foster Dulles, to Japanese foreign Minister, Mamoru Shigemitsu, insisting of four-island solution. Soviet Union hardened its attitude to Japan, rejecting transfer of Kunashiri and Etorofu. That was the beginning of the Northern Territory issue.

During the Cold War, Soviet Union maintained its diplomatic standpoint that the territory issue had been settled. It was 1991 when President Mikhail Gorbachev visited Japan that Soviet Union officially recognized the existence of territory issue. Although Japanese Prime Ministers, Ryutaro Hashimoto and Yoshiro Mori, and Russian Presidents, Boris Yeltsin and Vladimir Putin, proposed and discussed some ambitious solutions, Russia did not agree on further negotiation for them with skepticism on possible four-island solution.

Although current Prime Miniseter, Shinzo Abe, in his second and third term repeatedly invited Putin to Japan, their meeting in Japan has not been made. While Abe and former leaders had been failing in making major deal, environment of international relations was deteriorated by Russian annexation of Crimea. Ignoring or not knowing the fact that the Northern Territory issue has been in the context of international geopolitics, Japanese leaders spent time for direct negotiation with Russia.