Russo-Japanese Territorial Dispute from the Border Region Perspective

Abstract

Due to the territorial dispute created at the end of World War II, Japan and the Soviet Union/Russia have been in opposition and have yet to conclude a peace treaty. The territorial negotiations between Japan and Russia which resumed with the conclusion of the Cold War have continued for more than twenty years. However, there is no resolution in sight. Japan has been demanding the return of the Northern Territories (Southern Kuril Islands, according to their Russian definition), which are under Russian administration. Why is it that Japan and Russia cannot compromise over the issue of the ownership of these small islands? The purpose of this article is to demonstrate where the difficulties are in resolving this problem from a border region perspective. First, the article will trace the origins of, and shifts in, the territorial dispute, and next, examine the standpoints of the indigenous peoples and Japanese who formerly inhabited the Kurile Islands, as well as the Russians who presently reside there. Also, it will investigate the situation in Nemuro, Hokkaido, which practically lies in the Russo- Japanese border region. As the resolution of the territorial dispute is drawn out, a “territorial myth” is established in which both sides, Japanese and Russian, state that the Northern Territories (Southern Kurile Islands) is rightfully their territory, making resolution all the more difficult.