The border with Japan passes. The problem of territorial delimitation between Japan and Russia

RUSSIA-JAPAN: KURIL ISLANDS

Preliminary reference:

KURILE ISLANDS- a chain of volcanic islands between the Kamchatka Peninsula (USSR) and about. Hokkaido (Japan); separates the Sea of ​​Okhotsk from the Pacific Ocean. They are part of the Sakhalin Region (Russian Federation). The length is about 1200 km. The area is about 15.6 thousand km2. They consist of two parallel ridges of islands - Big Kuril and Small Kuril (Shikotan, Habomai, etc.).

The Great Kuril ridge is divided into 3 groups: southern (Kunashir, Iturup, Urup, etc.), middle (Simushir, Ketoy, Ushishir, etc.) and northern (Lovushki, Shiashkotan, Onekotan, Paramushir, etc.). Most of the islands are mountainous (height 2339 m). About 40 active volcanoes; hot mineral springs, high seismicity. On the southern islands there are forests; the northern ones are covered with tundra vegetation. Fishing for fish (chum salmon, etc.) and sea animals (seal, sea lion, etc.).

URUP, an island in the Kuril Islands group, the territory of the Russian Federation. OK. 1.4 thousand km2. Consists of 25 volcanoes connected by bases. Height up to 1426 m. 2 active volcanoes (Trident and Berga).

ITURUP, the largest in area (6725 km2) island in the Kuril Islands group (Russian Federation, Sakhalin Region). Volcanic massif (height up to 1634 m). Bamboo thickets, spruce-fir forests, elfin trees. On Iturup - Kurilsk.

KUNASHIR, an island in the Kuril Islands group. OK. 1550 km2. Height up to 1819 m. Active volcanoes (Tyatya and others) and hot springs. Pos. Yuzhno-Kurilsk. Kurilskiy reserve.

SHIKOTAN, most big Island in the Small Kuril ridge. 182 km2. Height up to 412 m. Settlements- Malokurilskoe and Krabozavodskoe. Fishing. Extraction of marine animals.

The territory of the disputed islands of the Kuril archipelago.

Borders between Russia and Japan in the Kuril Islands region.

Russian navigators Captain Spanberg and Lieutenant Walton in 1739 were the first Europeans to open the way to the eastern shores of Japan, visited the Japanese islands of Hondo (Honshu) and Matsmae (Hokkaido), described the Kuril ridge and mapped all the Kuril Islands and the eastern coast of Sakhalin. The expedition found that under the rule of the Japanese Khan [ emperor?] there is only one island of Hokkaido, the rest of the islands are beyond its control. Since the 60s, interest in the Kurils has noticeably increased, more and more often Russian fishing vessels have come to their shores, and soon the local population (Ainu) on the islands of Urup and Iturup was brought into Russian citizenship. Shebalin was instructed by the Okhotsk port office to "convert the inhabitants of the southern islands into Russian citizenship and start bargaining with them." Having brought the Ainu to Russian citizenship, the Russians established winter huts and camps on the islands, taught the Ainu how to use firearms, raise livestock and grow some vegetables. Many of the Ainu adopted Orthodoxy and learned to read and write. By order of Catherine II in 1779, all levies not established by decrees from St. Petersburg were canceled. Thus, the fact of the discovery and development of the Kuril Islands by the Russians is undeniable.

Over time, the crafts in the Kuril Islands became depleted, becoming less and less profitable than those off the coast of America, and therefore by the end of the 18th century, the interest of Russian merchants in the Kuriles weakened. In Japan, by the end of the same century, interest in the Kurils and Sakhalin was just awakening, because before that the Kuriles were practically unknown to the Japanese. The island of Hokkaido - according to the testimony of the Japanese scientists themselves - was considered a foreign territory and only an insignificant part of it was inhabited and developed. In the late 70s, Russian merchants reached Hokkaido and tried to establish trade with local residents. Russia was interested in purchasing food in Japan for Russian fishing expeditions and settlements in Alaska and the Pacific Islands, but it did not succeed in starting trade, since it prohibited the 1639 law on the isolation of Japan, which read: "For the future, as long as the sun shines peace, no one has the right to stick to the shores of Japan, even if he was even a messenger, and this law can never be canceled by anyone on pain of death. " And in 1788, Catherine II sent a strict order to the Russian industrialists in the Kuril Islands so that they "did not touch the islands under the jurisdiction of other powers," Masmaya to Kamchatka Lopatka, so that they "can all be ranked formally as the possession of the Russian state." Blyo was instructed not to allow foreign industrialists to "trade and trade in places belonging to Russia and to deal with local residents peacefully." But the expedition did not take place because of the outbreak of the Russian-Turkish war [ I mean the war of the years].

Taking advantage of the weakening of the Russian positions in the southern part of the Kuril Islands, Japanese fish traders first appear in Kunashir in 1799, the next year already in Iturup, where they destroy Russian crosses and illegally erect a pillar with a designation indicating that the islands belong to Japan. Japanese fishermen often began to come to the shores of South Sakhalin, fished, robbed the Ainu, which was the reason for frequent skirmishes between them. In 1805, Russian sailors from the frigate "Juno" and the tender "Avos" put up a pole with the Russian flag on the coast of Aniva Bay, and the Japanese parking lot on Iturup was ravaged. The Russians were warmly greeted by the Ainu.

In 1854, in order to establish trade and diplomatic relations with Japan, the government of Nicholas I sent Vice-Admiral E. Putyatin. His mission also included the delimitation of Russian and Japanese possessions. Russia demanded recognition of its rights to the island of Sakhalin and the Kuriles, which had long belonged to it. Knowing perfectly well what a difficult situation Russia found itself in, while simultaneously waging a war with the three powers in the Crimea, Japan put forward unfounded claims to the southern part of Sakhalin. At the beginning of 1855, in the city of Shimoda, Putyatin signed the first Russian-Japanese treaty of peace and friendship, in accordance with which Sakhalin was declared undivided between Russia and Japan, the border was established between the islands of Iturup and Urup, and the ports of Shimoda and Hakodate were opened for Russian ships and Nagasaki.

The Shimoda Treatise of 1855 in Article 2 defines:
“From now on, the border between the Japanese state and Russia will be established between Iturup Island and Urup Island. The entire Iturup Island belongs to Japan, the entire Urup Island and the Kuril Islands to the north of it belong to Russia. As for the island of Karafuto (Sakhalin), it is still not divided by the border between Japan and Russia. "

In our time, the Japanese side claims that this treatise comprehensively took into account the activities of Japan and Russia in the Sakhalin region and the Kuril Islands up to the time of its conclusion and was concluded as a result of negotiations between Japan and Russia in a peaceful atmosphere. The plenipotentiary representative of the Russian side at the talks, Admiral Putyatin, at the signing of the treaty, said: "In order to prevent future disputes, as a result of careful study, it was confirmed that Iturup Island is Japanese territory." Documents recently published in Russia show that Nicholas I considered Urup Island to be the southern limit of Russian territory.

The Japanese side considers the assertion erroneous that Japan had imposed this treatise on Russia, which was in a difficult situation during the Crimean War. It is completely contrary to the facts. At that time, Russia was one of the great European powers, while Japan was a small and weak country, which the United States, Britain and Russia were forced to abandon the country's 300-year-old policy of self-isolation.

Japan also considers erroneous the assertion that Russia allegedly has “historical rights” to the Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan and Habomai ridge, confirmed by this treatise as Japanese possession, due to their discovery and expeditions. As mentioned above, both Nicholas I and the admiral (+), on the basis of the then objective situation, concluded a treatise, realizing that the southern border of Russia is the Urup Island, and Iturup and south of it are the territory of Japan. Since 1855, for over 90 years, neither Tsarist Russia nor the Soviet Union ever insisted on these so-called "historical rights."
There was no need for Japan to discover these islands, located at the shortest distance from her and visible from Hokkaido with the naked eye. The Shoho era map published in Japan in 1644 contains the names of the islands of Kunashir and Iturup. Japan ruled these islands before anyone else. Actually, Japan justifies its claims to the so-called "Northern Territories" precisely by the content of the Shimoda Treaty of 1855 and by the fact that until 1946 the Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan Islands and the Habomai Ridge have always been Japanese territories and have never become Russian territories.

The government of Alexander II made the Middle East and Central Asia the main direction of its policy and, fearing to leave its relations with Japan uncertain in the event of a new aggravation of relations with England, agreed to sign the so-called Petersburg Treaty of 1875, according to which all the Kuril Islands in exchange for the recognition of Sakhalin Russian territory passed to Japan. Alexander II, who had previously sold Alaska in 1867 for a symbolic and at that time amount of 11 million rubles, and this time made a major mistake by underestimating the strategic importance of the Kuriles, which were later used by Japan for aggression against Russia. The tsar naively believed that Japan would become a peaceful and calm neighbor of Russia, and when the Japanese, justifying their claims, refer to the 1875 treaty, then for some reason they forget (as G. Kunadze “forgot” today) about its first article: “.. . eternal peace and friendship between the Russian and Japanese empires will continue to be established. "
Then there was 1904, when Japan treacherously attacked Russia ... When concluding a peace treaty in Portsmouth in 1905, the Japanese side demanded Sakhalin Island from Russia as an indemnity. The Russian side said then that this was contrary to the 1875 treaty. What did the Japanese answer to this?
- The war negates all agreements, you were defeated and let's proceed from the current situation.
Only thanks to skillful diplomatic maneuvers did Russia manage to keep the northern part of Sakhalin for itself, and South Sakhalin went to Japan.

At the Yalta conference of the heads of powers of the countries participating in the anti-Hitler coalition, held in February 1945, after the end of the Second World War, it was decided to transfer South Sakhalin and all the Kuril Islands to the Soviet Union, and this was a condition for the USSR to enter the war with Japan - three months after the end of the war in Europe.

On September 8, 1951, 49 states signed a peace treaty with Japan in San Francisco. The draft treaty was prepared during the Cold War without the participation of the USSR and in violation of the principles of the Potsdam Declaration. The Soviet side proposed to carry out demilitarization and ensure the democratization of the country. The representatives of the United States and Great Britain told our delegation that they had come here not to discuss, but to sign the treaty and therefore would not change a single line. The USSR, and with it Poland and Czechoslovakia, refused to sign the treaty. And what is interesting, article 2 of this treaty states that Japan waives all rights and legal grounds to Sakhalin Island and the Kuril Islands. So Japan itself renounced territorial claims to our country, backing it up with her signature.

Currently, the Japanese side claims that the islands of Iturup, Shikotan, Kunashir and the Habomai ridge, which have always been Japanese territory, are not part of the Kuril Islands, which Japan abandoned. The US government, regarding the scope of the Kuril Islands in the San Francisco Peace Treaty, stated in an official document: have always been part of Japan proper and, therefore, must be rightly recognized as being under Japanese sovereignty. "

1956, Soviet-Japanese negotiations on the normalization of relations between the two countries. The Soviet side agrees to cede the two islands of Shikotan and Habomai to Japan and proposes to sign a peace treaty. The Japanese side is inclined to accept the Soviet proposal, but in September 1956, the United States sent Japan a note stating that if Japan abandons its claims to Kunashir and Iturup and is satisfied with only two islands, then the United States will not give up the Ryukyu Islands. where the main island is Okinawa. American intervention played a role and ... the Japanese refused to sign a peace treaty on our terms. The subsequently concluded security treaty (1960) between the United States and Japan made it impossible to transfer Shikotan and Habomai to Japan. Our country, of course, could not give the islands for American bases, as well as bind itself with any obligations to Japan in the Kuril Islands.

A decent answer about territorial claims to us on the part of Japan was given in his time:
- The borders between the USSR and Japan should be viewed as the result of the Second World War.

We could put an end to this, but I would like to remind you that just 6 years ago, when meeting with a delegation, the PCJ also strongly opposed the revision of the borders, stressing that the borders between the USSR and Japan were "legal and legally grounded."

http: // karty. ***** / claim / kuril / kuril. html

The current political and legal problem of territorial delimitation between Russia and Japan. In the Joint Collection of Documents on the History of Territorial Delimitation between Russia and Japan, prepared in 1992 ... ... All Japan

To the Far East. econom. area, pl. 87.1 thousand km²; adm. center - Yuzhno Sakhalinsk. Covers about. Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands, which are located in a tectonically active zone on the border of Eurasia and the Pacific Ocean. High seismicity is noted everywhere; ... Geographical encyclopedia

In Russian federation. 87.1 thousand km2. Population 647.8 thousand people (1998), urban 82%. 18 cities, 31 urban-type settlements. Center Yuzhno Sakhalinsk. It is washed by the waters of the Sea of ​​Okhotsk and the Sea of ​​Japan and the Pacific Ocean. Includes Sakhalin Island and ... ... encyclopedic Dictionary

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Either part of them ended up under the rule of Russia, then under the rule of Japan. In - years. Japan also included the southern part of Sakhalin Island (Karafuto), therefore, in the period 1905-1945. part of the Russian-Japanese, and then the Soviet-Japanese border was land. The modern border was established after the Second World War.

Description

The Russian-Japanese border de facto, and also, from the point of view of Russia, de jure, passes through the straits: La Perouse, Kunashirsky, Treason and Soviet, separating Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands from the Japanese island of Hokkaido. From the point of view of Japan, the de jure border passes through the La Perouse and Vries straits. The latter separates the Kuril islands Iturup and Urup.

Territorial disputes

Japan claims the southern group of the Kuril Islands - Iturup, Shikotan, Kunashir and Habomai, which came under the control of the USSR (and Russia as a legal successor) as a war trophy in 1945. This border existed in the years 1855-1875. It was established on February 7, 1855 and was the first Russian-Japanese treaty on trade and borders (Treaty of Shimoda). Abolished on May 7, the Petersburg Treaty signed with Japan, according to which all the Kuril Islands were transferred to the latter. Since the year in Japan, the Day of the Northern Territories is celebrated on the occasion of the annexation of the South Kuril Islands.

Checkpoints

There are no checkpoints on the Russian-Japanese border, since the border is maritime along its entire length. Due to the water nature of the border, violations of it by sea fishing vessels are often recorded here. Due to the much larger population of Hokkaido (over 5.5 million people), the border is usually violated by Japanese fishermen, who can cause multimillion-dollar damage by illegal crab catch. At the same time, the law makes it possible for Japanese fishermen to cross the border legally and to extract marine resources in certain areas of the Habomai archipelago. Since a year, Japanese fishermen have been fishing for seaweed near Signalny Island under intergovernmental and interagency agreements between Russia and Japan.

To control the maritime border with Japan and prevent the plundering of natural resources of the Russian Federation on the island. Tanfiliev operates a border post with the appropriate infrastructure. There is no permanent civilian population on the island, but border guards with families live here all year round, and up to several dozen seasonal workers regularly arrive in rotation.

Notes (edit)

1. Neighboring countries Archived October 11, 2016. // Rosgranitsa
2. General information about the country / Geographical location. Borders Archived copy of March 26, 2016 at the Wayback Machine // New Russian Encyclopedia (Russia. Electronic Encyclopedic Dictionary)
3. Rosgranitsa - Japan (unspecified) (unavailable link)... Date of treatment February 6, 2015. Archived December 3, 2014.
4. Tvarkovsky L.S. Russian naval forces protecting the natural resources of the seas of the Russian Far East: history and modernity (unspecified) ... // Local history bulletin.- Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk: Sakhalin Center for Documentation of Contemporary History, 1996.- Issue. 3. - “… since 1963, the Japanese have started fishing for seaweed in the area of ​​Signalny Island (Small Kuril Ridge). The right to this fishery was stipulated by a special intergovernmental agreement, as well as by an agreement concluded between the USSR Ministry of Fisheries and the All-Japan Association of Fisheries. " Retrieved April 16, 2016.
5. Error in footnotes

On February 2, 1946, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR issued a decree, paragraph 1 of which was determined: “ Establish that since September 20, 1945, all the land with its subsoil, forests and waters on the territory of the southern part of Sakhalin Island and the Kuril Islands is the state property of the USSR, that is, the national property».

Of course, this was a sovereign decision of the USSR, but it was taken, obviously, not without taking into account the fact that on the eve, namely on January 29, 1946, the territorial issue was resolved (not without our insistent demand) by the Allied Directive No. 677, signed by the commander-in-chief of the occupation forces in Japan by the American General D. MacArthur, the appendix to which was a map with the designated new borders of defeated Japan.

Borders of Japan on the map-supplement to the Memorandum of General D. MacArthur No. 677.
Source: https://regnum.ru/

Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of February 2, 1946 corrected those erroneous, and sometimes detrimental to the interests of the Russian state and its peoples, but proceeding from the noble desire of Russia to establish mutually beneficial, trusting relations with its Far Eastern neighbor, decisions on territorial delimitation with Japan ...

In 1951, the boundaries of Japan specified in Directive No. 677 were secured by the San Francisco Peace Treaty, by signing which the Japanese government officially renounced South Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands. However, later, referring to the fact that the USSR did not participate in the signing of this treaty, and that the treaty does not indicate in whose favor the refusal occurred, allegations appeared in Japan about the alleged absence of a final decision about who these territories were assigned to. At the same time, Japan “forgets” about the obligation for it of the provisions of the Crimean (Yalta) agreement of the allies of February 11, 1945, which provided for the entry into the war in the Far East of the USSR and the transition of South Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands to the Soviet Union, and, as follows from text of the San Francisco Treaty, Japan undertook to recognize all decisions and all treaties of the Allies during the Second World War (and hence the Yalta Agreement). Allegations of the alleged "illegality of the annexation" of these territories are also inappropriate, because the 1945 Cairo and Potsdam Declarations of the Allies, and then the San Francisco Treaty, confirm the principle of international law on the possibility of limiting the territorial sovereignty of the aggressor state as a punishment for the implemented aggression.

John F. Dulles and the Japanese delegation at the signing of the San Francisco Peace Treaty.
Source: https://regnum.ru/

Who needs negotiations to conclude a peace treaty between Russia and Japan?

However, for more than 70 years now, with varying degrees of intensity, the negotiations initiated by Japan and essentially dead-end negotiations on a peace treaty between our countries have been conducted with varying degrees of intensity. The strangest thing about this, in my opinion, is that neither Japan nor Russia needs a peace treaty in itself: all issues related to the reconstruction after the end of World War II, one of the main instigators of which was Japan, all-round interstate relations have been resolved The San Francisco Peace Treaty of 1951 with her allies in the anti-Japanese coalition and the "Joint Declaration of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and Japan" 1956, which declared the end of the state of war (paragraph 1 of the Declaration), the restoration of diplomatic and consular posts (paragraph 2- d), as well as economic and other relations (by the way, it was Japan then, under pressure from the United States, refused to conclude a peace treaty, since the Soviet side quite reasonably did not want to make territorial concessions).

In principle, in conditions when there is no state of war between our powers, for Russia, in my opinion, there is no objective need to conclude, even in the name of further development of good-neighborly relations with Japan, a peace treaty (we do not have the same treaty with another aggressor of the Second World War II - Germany, and this does not interfere with building full-fledged relations between Moscow and Berlin / earlier - Bonn /). Absolutely inexplicable is the consent of Russia (and earlier the USSR) to meet Japan's initiatives, the main goal of which and at the same time the main obstacle to reaching agreement in previous years, and today is the illegal territorial claims of the Japanese side, punished by the world community for crimes against peace and humanity by deprivation its all the territories previously acquired as a result of the greedy policy, including South Sakhalin and all the Kuril Islands. To give a new powerful impetus to our relations, which is fully justified and sufficient to achieve this goal, it would be the conclusion between Russia and Japan of a Treaty of Friendship, Good Neighborliness and Development of Business, Scientific and Cultural Relations, which does not imply revision of the long-resolved territorial issue. However, Russia allows itself to be dragged into hopeless negotiations on a peace treaty and continue them even after Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzo's unequivocal refusal to sign it without preconditions in response to the direct proposal of Russian President V.V. Putin about this in September 2018. in Singapore, which, obviously, Japan does not need, but only the satisfaction of its persistent territorial claims is necessary. Obviously, the slightest indulgence of the Russian side in this matter (either four or two islands of the Kuril ridge, and in the Japanese political establishment the concept of "northern territories" is interpreted much more frivolously, which will be discussed below) would mean a violation of the provisions of the Constitution of the Russian Federation on the inviolability of the territorial integrity of the state, infringement of the national, including economic, interests of Russia, damage to its security system, which is especially dangerous given the existence of a Japanese-American military alliance, in which Japan occupies a subordinate position, and permanent deployment on the Japanese islands about 100 military bases and up to 50 thousand US troops.

Even the transfer of only four Kuril Islands to Japan will deprive Russia
strategically important economic zone (highlighted in yellow),
and the Sea of ​​Okhotsk will lose its status as a Russian inland sea and allow foreign warships
freely enter its water area

Does Japan have grounds for any territorial claims against Russia?

Historical experience shows that the territorial problem has always been a handmaiden of unscrupulous politicians and a pretext for military conflicts between countries. Japan has been particularly successful in this matter.

“At the beginning of the Meiji era (and before that period even Hokkaido was considered“ overseas ”for Japan. - V.Z.), around 1867, there were many people in Japan who tried to strengthen national rights by expanding towards the Kuril archipelago and Sakhalin in order to strengthen the defense of the north and colonize these lands. Subsequently, an agreement was reached between Russia and Japan on the delimitation of the territory. Despite this, Japan wanted to possess Sakhalin both in the interests of national defense and the economy. As a result of the Russo-Japanese war, Japan received South Sakhalin from Russia, "- this is part of the extensive" handwritten testimony "of the Japanese general who was captured by the Soviet Union, the commander-in-chief of the million-strong Kwantung group of forces that surrendered to the Soviet troops at the end of World War II Otozo Yamada from April 8-9 1946 g.

Territory of Japan before the Meiji Reform, 1868
(Complete Atlas of Japan. Tokyo: Teikoku-Shoin Co., Ltd., 1982):
not only Sakhalin and the Kuriles, but also Hokkaido were not the territory of Japan

The frank reasoning of the former ruler of Manchuria about the named and other reasons for the "aggressive policy of Japan in the Far East", as well as the very presence of the Japanese troops on the vast territories of China, Korea, and South-East Asia, very convincingly indicate that when deciding on the issue of territorial expansion, official Tokyo has never paid attention to such "trifles" as international law, primacy of belonging and priority in the development of the occupied lands.

As the maps of the "Complete Atlas of Japan" show, not only the Kuril Islands, but also one of the largest islands of modern Japan, Hokkaido, were not officially part of this country.

The Kuril Islands, in accordance with the norms of international law of those years, originally belonged to the Russian Empire. Goodwill gestures for the transfer of the southern Kuriles (and, in fact, Hokkaido, an independent principality of Japan and populated mainly by the Ainu principality of Matmai, half of whose population paid yasak to the Russian treasury) to Japan in 1855 in the name of establishing good-neighborly relations and developing trade, and then in 1875 The city and all the Kuriles in exchange for a complete refusal of the Japanese side from claims to Sakhalin were perceived by imperial Japan in no way adequately.

As a result of the Japanese-Russian War of 1904-1905. Japan annexed the southern part of Sakhalin, which belonged to Russia, and pursued an aggressive policy towards Soviet Russia during the years of foreign intervention.

Japan led the Entente troops during the years of foreign intervention, tried to dominate the Far East and Siberia, captured and held the northern part of Sakhalin until 1925. Japan was an ally of Nazi Germany on the eve and during the Second World War (events near the border Lake Khasan and aggression in friendly Mongolia on the Khalkhin-gol river in order to create a springboard for aggression against the USSR towards Lake Baikal, provocative activity of the million-strong Kwantung group of forces in Manchuria during the war).

During the difficult period for our allies in the summer of 1945, when they believed that it would take at least 1.5 years to defeat Japan (and according to General D. MacArthur, who had the sad experience of defeat from the Japanese in the Philippines in 1942 and flight from them, and 5-7 years), with the loss of a million American and half a million soldiers of British troops, the Soviet Union, in response to numerous requests from the leaders of the allied powers, entered the war against Japan. With the decisive role of the Soviet troops under the command of Marshal of the Soviet Union A.M. Vasilevsky, who defeated the millionth Kwantung grouping of Japanese troops in Manchuria and North Korea, as well as the troops of the 5th Front on Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands, Japan was forced to recognize an unconditional surrender, the signing of which on named after the USSR was carried out by Lieutenant General KN Derevyanko.

Operations of the Soviet Armed Forces in the war against militaristic Japan

In this regard, it is difficult to explain Japan's attempts, which began in the 1950s and intensified since the late 1980s, to substantiate its claims precisely from the point of view of international law on the so-called "northern territories", by which it is generally accepted, but far from accurate, to understand four islands of the South Kuril ridge. This is how, for example, approaches to solving the problem of the “northern territories” were outlined in the “Interim report on the study of foreign policy and comprehensive national security” (Tokyo, May 1988, p. 13), prepared by order of the Japanese cabinet of ministers: “Japan must continue to demand the return of all northern territories ... Conclude a Japanese-Soviet peace treaty after the return of the four northern islands. Japan should also try to conclude a Japanese-Soviet peace treaty, including the return of all the Kuril Islands ... To declare paragraph c) of the 2nd article of the Peace Treaty with Japan (San Francisco, 1951), which states that Japan renounces the Kuril Islands, invalid ".

And in the official government document "White Paper on the Defense of Japan", since the 1980s, the "northern territories" are denoted frivolously. Japanese borders are indicated in the "White Papers" in the Kuril Islands region north of the island Iturup (which is reflected in a special amendment to the law on territories adopted by the Japanese parliament in 2009), and the "disputed territories" extend to the middle of Sakhalin Island and to the Kamchatka Peninsula.

An example of Japan's cartographic aggression
against Russia in the 1996 White Book.

Do not disdain cartographic falsifications and showing the growing ambitions of Japan and purely civilian publications, as can be seen in the "Complete Atlas of Japan", 1982.

In conclusion, I would like to emphasize once again: it is obvious that no one needs a peace treaty at all, and negotiating it, regardless of the goals of the parties, has no prospect, and it is harmful, because this implies a return to the problem of island ownership, which does not exist for Russia. All issues of diplomatic relations have long been resolved by the perfectly functioning Joint Declaration of 1956, taking into account the fact that both sides (actually voluntarily each) in 1960 officially disavowed its Art. 9th, which indicated that if a peace treaty is signed in the future, the USSR will be ready, after signing it, to transfer Fr. Shikotan (Shikotan) and the Habomai group of islands. It is necessary to proceed from the fact that in 1960 the Soviet government sent Japan three Notes, each of which described Japan's corresponding violations of the terms of the 1956 Declaration. the third, April Note. That is, in the part concerning the territories, D. MacArthur's directive and the San Francisco Peace Treaty, recognized by Japan, as well as domestic Russian legislation, are in effect. It would be better if the authorities of the Russian Federation and Japan concentrated their attention on the mutually beneficial filling of relations with tangible economic cooperation. Japan is bluffing, promising (but not in a hurry to fulfill promises), if its demands are met, the rapid development of economic ties between our countries, but more than 20 years of stagnation of its economy and the prospect of a predicted loss of 26.5 million of its population in the next 25-30 years ( up to 100 million people) and without territorial concessions from Russia will force Tokyo to take a more realistic position in relations with it, which, of course, will meet the interests of both sides.

For Russia, all the issues of the post-war territorial demarcation with Japan have been resolved. They were resolved by agreements with the allies during the war against the Japanese aggressor, the blood of Soviet soldiers shed for the return of the islands previously torn away by Japan.

It is Japan, under the pretext of the "necessity" of a peace treaty, cherishes a single goal: what if Russia does not resist the pressure and surrenders the islands. And there are no more questions that interfere with peaceful relations between Russia and Japan, except, it is true, that Japan, despite its growing military power contrary to the provisions of Article 9 of its own constitution, is not sovereign in its decisions due to its subordinate position in the military alliance with the United States and often acts under their dictation.

Aircraft carriers and missile ships of the Japanese Navy in combat formation

The 1956 Joint Declaration in the version in which it is now working is something that needs to be defended, and it is very important to stop responding to the flashy stuffing of Japanese politicians and the media about the alleged incompleteness of the registration of our borders, and hence the Russian Japanese relations in general, and the need for this to sign a peace treaty. That is, Russia’s revision to the detriment of relations with one of the main aggressors of the Second World War. The point in that war has been set. To develop good-neighborly relations between our countries, there is everything except fairly honest goodwill on the part of Japan and, possibly, someone's personal interests in the Russian establishment and oligarchy in the hope that Japan, having received an island region rich in natural resources with an impressive sea economic zone, will not skimp on generous kickbacks.

From the Decrees of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated February 2, 1946 // Documents of the XX century. Bulletin of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated 16.II.1946 / http: doc20vek.ru/node/1322. 01/29/2019.

See: The Great Patriotic War 1941 - 1945. Documents and materials. V. 18 t. T. 4. M .: "Voevoda", 2015. S. 39.

See: ibid. P. 38.

See more about this: A. Koshkin. In 1951, in the peace treaty, Japan renounced all the Kuril Islands // IA REGNUM. 2019.24 January https://regnum.ru/news/polit/2558585.html

Bulletin of the Supreme Soviet of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Moscow, 1956. No. 24. P. 612.

Russian state military archive. F. 451 / p. Op. 5.D. 72.L. 3-28.

Complete Atlas of Japan. Tokyo: Teikoku-Shoin Co., Ltd., 1982.

See: The Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945. In 12 volumes.Vol. 5.M .: Kuchkovo field, 2013.P. 429.

See: ibid. P. 582.

V.P. Zimonin,
Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor,
Honored Scientist of the Russian Federation,
Academic Advisor of RARAN, Academician of AVN RF and RANS