TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Japan has issued a joint declaration calling Russia’s occupation of four islands off Hokkaido illegal for the first time in five years, while protestors have approached the Russian embassy demanding the islands be returned.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida attended a rally to discuss the disputed territories on Feb. 7, and said that he will prioritize enabling Japanese people to visit their ancestral graves on the island. “The resumption of people-to-people exchanges and projects in the four islands... is one of the top priorities of Japan-Russia relations going forward,” he said.
Despite the joint declaration calling the occupation illegal, Kishida did not use the term. However, he did address the war in Ukraine, saying that the invasion places Japan-Russia relations in a “difficult situation.”
"We are sticking to the policy of concluding a peace treaty (with Russia) after resolving the territorial row," Kishida said, according to Jiji Press.
Also on Feb. 7, a group of protestors, some carrying the Ukrainian flag, gathered outside the Russian Embassy in Tokyo and demanded that the islands be returned.
According to Russian state media, the islands are “undeniable Russian Territory.”
Known as the Northern Territories in Japan, the four islands are part of the Kuril Island chain that stretches between Hokkaido and the southern tip of the Russian Kamchatka Peninsula. Japan was ordered to relinquish control of the islands following its defeat in World War Two, and shortly thereafter its Japanese residents were expelled by the then USSR.
milelongpipe on February 10th, 2023 at 02:14 UTC »
Were these the same islands the Russians occupied at the end of WWII? They invaded just before Japan surrendered.
cwm33 on February 10th, 2023 at 01:52 UTC »
I think russia should send their one and only aircraft carrier over to the islands to protect this important strategic location.
I'm sure they have it running in tip top condition by now and in good enough condition to take on the mightiest of fishing boats.
creativename87639 on February 9th, 2023 at 22:38 UTC »
Hasn’t this been an ongoing dispute for like a really long time?