RUSSO-JAPANESE The Kuril

RELATIONS IN THE Islands

Dispute
NORTH PACIFIC

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 INTRODUCTION

„…from a legal standpoint, Russia and Japan are still in a

state of war.“

 - Japanese Minister of State

 Masaki Nakayama, 1995
LOCATION, FIGURES & TOPOGRAPHY
LOCATION, FIGURES & TOPOGRAPHY
 LOCATION, FIGURES & TOPOGRAPHY

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LOCATION, FIGURES & TOPOGRAPHY

Sakhalin Island
Kamchatka Peninsula

De facto boundary
delimitation today

De jure boundary
delimitation argued by
Japan

Hokkaido // Kunashir Peninsula

LOCATION, FIGURES & TOPOGRAPHY

Kunashir(i) Island

Nemuro Subprefecture // Peninsula

 LOCATION, FIGURES & TOPOGRAPHY

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 LOCATION, FIGURES & TOPOGRAPHY

The Southern Kurils / The Northern Territories

Contested Areas
Name - Russian Name - Japanese Size (KM²) Population
Iturup (Итуруп) Etorofu Island 3,200 6,000

Kunashir (Кунашир) Kunashiri Island 1,490 4,000

Shikotan (Шикотан) Shikotan Island 250 1,500

Habomai (острова
Habomai-Shotō 96 (Aggregate) 300
Хабомаи)

5,036 (32% of
TOTAL Total Kuril Islands 11,800
Surface Area)
 LOCATION, FIGURES & TOPOGRAPHY

 Volcanic archipelago composed primarily of stratovolcanoes

 Located in Sakhalin Oblast, Russian Federation (De Facto)
 Approx. 1300 KM in length consisting of 56 (52) islands
covering 15,590 KM² of land surface area
 Form part of Pacific ‘Ring of Fire’, a region of frequent
tectonic Instability
 Numerous high magnitude earthquakes recorded on, or in close
proximity of the islands e.g 8.5 in 1963 / 8.3 in 2006
 Very harsh climate; long, severe winters and short
‘notoriously’ foggy summers; temperate to sub-arctic climate
range
 Highly diverse wildlife, particularly marine wildlife, owing to
the warm ‘Oyashio Current’
 LOCATION, FIGURES & TOPOGRAPHY

  Primary industry is fishing – abundance of salmon, flounder,

tuna, shrimp, clams and crab
 of Russia’s sea catch originates from Sakhalin and other
ports outside the Kuril island chain
 Industry valued at approx. $200 million U.S. dollars
 Most of which goes directly back to Moscow as “taxes, duties and
other fees.”
 Only $25 million designated for reinvestment into the region
 Mineral deposits including gold and silver have also been
discovered – no petroleum potential
 Population of entire Kuril Island chain including contested
areas: ~19,000; ½ live under the poverty line
 HISTORICAL PARADIGM

 Indigenous of Kuril Islands called Ainu

 24,000 Japanese currently report Ainu origin
 Ainu themselves of uncertain anthropological origin
 Mongloid Theory, Oceanis Race Theory, Old Asian Race Theory
 Many contemporary Ainu ‘claim ancestry’ with ancient Japanese Jōmon
Culture (14,000 BC to 300 BC)

 Knowledge of Japans proximity to the Kuril Islands reaches Moscow

around 1700
 Conflicting accounts of who was actually first to discover and survey
the archipelago
 Initiation of diplomatic relations between both countries around
1850
 Start of official relations upon signing of the Shimoda Treaty in
1855
 HISTORICAL PARADIGM

 Shimoda Treaty establishes border between Japan and Russia

“Henceforth the boundary line between Japan and Russia shall be a line
drawn between “Etorofu“ and “Urup“ islands. The entire island of Etorofu
belongs to Japan, while the entire island of Urup and the Kuril islands to
the north of Urup belong to Russia. In regard to Sakhalin Island there
shall be no boundary line and the past practices shall be observed.”

- Treaty of Commerce, Navigation and Delimitation (Shimoda Treaty)

 HISTORICAL PARADIGM

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 HISTORICAL PARADIGM

 Treaty for the Exchange of Sakhalin for the Kuril Islands

(1875) (Treaty of St. Petersburg)
“…in exchange for the cession to Russia of the rights on the island of
Sakhalin, as mentioned in Article I , His Majesty the emperor of all
Russia on behalf of Himself and his Heirs, cedes to His Majesty the
Emperor of Japan, the group of islands known as the Kuriles, which
He now possesses, together with all the rights of sovereignty derived
from this possession, so that henceforth the said group of the Kurile
shall belong to the Empire of Japan. This group comprises the 18
islands named below: 1) Shumshu, 2) Alaid, 3) Paramushir, 4)
Makanrishi, 5) Onekotan, 6) Kharimkotan, 7) Ekarma, 8) Shiashkotan,
9) Mushir,1 0) Raykoke,1 1) Matua, 12) Rastua,1 3) the islets of
Srednego and Ushishir, 14) Ketoy, 15) Simushir, 16) Broutana, 17) the
islets of Cherpoi and Bratcherpiev, 18) Urup”

- Treaty of St. Petersburg

 HISTORICAL PARADIGM

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 HISTORICAL PARADIGM

 Portsmouth Treaty (1905) formally ends the first Russo-

Japanese War (1904 – 1905) and returns to Japan the portion
of Sakhalin Island south of the 50th Parallel

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 JAPANESE POSITION

1. Prior to World War II the entire Kuril Archipelago and

southern half of Sakhalin Island under Japanese sovereignty
2. The Treaties of 1855 and 1875 never entertained the notion
that sovereignty of the Southern Kurils has ever belonged to
any state other than Japan, because:
A. The Treaty of 1855 clearly stipulates that the border between the
two is to be drawn between Etorofu und Urup Islands.
B. The Treaty of 1875 makes explicit reference to the Kuril Islands,
each being numbered and named, yet it omits the 4 contested
Islands of the Southern Kurils.
3. Japan therefore argues that the Southern Kuril islands are
inherently part of its territory (generally recognized to be an
extension of Hokkaido) and any future mention of the Kurils
in treaties or agreements of any kind can only refer to the
Islands north of Etorofu.
 SOVIET ANNEXATION

 Soviet Union concludes neutrality pact with Japan in April of

1941 – with a term of 5 years
 “Peaceful and friendly relations with respect to each other's territorial
integrity were assured”
 Soviet Union declares war on Japan in August 1945 – lasts for a
total of six days
 Issuance of General Order No. 1 by Truman directing surrender
of Japanese forces in occupied territories
"The Senior Japanese commanders and all ground, sea, air and
auxiliary forces within Manchuria, Korea north of 38 degrees north
latitude, Karafuto [Sakhalin] and all of the Kurile Islands shall
surrender to the Commander-in-Chief of Soviet Forces in the Far East.“

- General Order No. 1

 SOVIET ANNEXATION

 Etorofu Occupied on August 29th, 1945

 Kunashiri Occupied on September 1st, 1945
 1 s t to 4 t h September 1945: Occupation of Habomai-Shotō and
Shikotan Island
 20 t h of September 1945: Moscow declares unilateral and
absolute sovereignty over Kuril Archipelago, including
contested regions
 February 2 n d 1946: Approval of an Ordinance by the Supreme
Soviet incorporating south Sakhalin and the Kurile Islands
into Soviet territory
 February 25 t h 1947: Kuril Islands included in the Soviet
Constitution and regarded officially as an “integral component
of the Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic”
 RUSSIAN/SOVIET POSITION

 Current state of ownership regarding Kuril Islands is fait

accompli of a series of agreements and proclamations
regarding postwar territorial disposition
 Following agreements used to legitimize occupation of
Islands:

1. Yalta Agreement
2. Cairo Declaration
3. Potsdam Proclamation
4. San Francisco Peace Treaty of 1951
5. The Memorandum of the Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers
(General Douglas McArthur) (SCAPIN No. 677)
 YALTA CONFERENCE

 Increasing pressure on the Soviet Union to join the war in the

Pacific against Japan
 Yalta Conference from February 1945 meant to orchestrate
post-war reorganization of Europe designated that the Kuril
Archipelago and the southern part of Sakhalin Island be
returned to the Soviet Union
 This agreement however did not specify precisely which
islands actually comprise the Kurile Archipelago
 CAIRO DECLERATION

 Issued following a meeting of Roosevelt, Churchill and Chiang

Kai-shek of China regarding military operations in the Pacific
Arena.

…the three great allies…covet no gain for themselves and have no

thought of territorial expansion. It is their purpose that Japan shall
be stripped of all the islands in the Pacific which she has seized or
occupied since the beginning of the first World War in 1914, and
that all the territories that Japan has stolen from the Chinese,
such as Manchuria, Formosa and Pescadores, shall be restored to
the Republic of China. Japan will also be expelled from all other
territories which she has taken by violence and greed.

- Cairo Declaration, 1943

 THE POTSDAM PROCLAMATION

…the terms of the Cairo Declaration shall be carried out and

Japanese sovereignty shall be limited to the islands of Honshu,
Hokkaido, Kyushu, Shikoku and such minor islands as we
determine.
- The Potsdam Proclamation, 1945

 Potsdam Proclamation accepted by Japan on August 14 t h

1945
SAN FRANCISCO PEACE TREATY OF 1952

 Express mention of Kuril Islands made in Clause II, Item (c)

…stated with respect to the northern territories that Japan

renounces all right, title and claim to the Kuril islands, and to that
portion of Sakhalin and the islands adjacent to it over which Japan
acquired sovereignty as a consequence of the Treaty of
Portsmouth of September 5, 1905.
- San Francisco Peace Treaty, Clause II, Item (c), 1952
 SCAPIN NO. 677

“…for the purpose of this directive, Japan is defined to include the four main
islands of Japan and the approximately 1,000 smaller adjacent islands . . . and
excluding inter alia, the Kurile (Chishima) islands, the Habomai island group
and Shikotan island.“

 - Memorandum of the Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers,

 General Douglas McArthur
 January 1946
 SOVIET-JAPANESE JOINT DECLARATION,
1956
 Soviet Union did not sign the Treaty of Peace with Japan in
1951 – therefore hostilities between both nations never
formally ended
 Joint Declaration promises an eventual, finalized peace treaty
predicated upon resolution of territorial dispute
 Also served to restore diplomatic relations between two
nations
 Makes provisional allowance for transfer of Habomai-Shotō
and Shikotan Island back to Japanese sovereignty
SOVIET-JAPANESE JOINT DECLARATION,
1956

The U.S.S.R. and Japan have agreed to continue, after the

establishment of normal diplomatic relations between
them, negotiations for the conclusion of a peace treaty.
Hereby, the U.S.S.R., in response to the desires of Japan
and taking into consideration the interest of the Japanese
state, agrees to hand over to Japan the Habomai and the
Shikotan Islands, provided that the actual changing over to
Japan of these islands will be carried out after the
conclusion of a peace treaty.

- Soviet-Japanese Joint Declaration, 1956

 POST-SOVIET ERA

 Letter brought to Japan by the Acting Chairman of the Russian

Parliament Ruslan Khasbulatov in September of 1991
 Promised resolution of territorial dispute based on zakonnost i
spravedlivost (law and justice)
 Relations no longer on the basis of ‘Victor and the
Vanquished’
 Aforementioned letter also contained 5 stage plan mandating
conclusion of a peace treaty by 2010 but:
 no specific mention made of recognition of sovereignty or
 actual return of the islands
 5 STAGE PLAN

(1) Moscow‘s Acknowledgement of territorial problem by the end

of 1991
(2) The four islands to be made a free enterprise zone open to
Japanese
(3) Demilitarization of the region by 1998-2004
(4) Conclusion of a peace treaty by 2005-10
(5) Final resolution of the territorial problem to be left to the next
generation
- 5 Year Plan proposed by Russia in 1991
RECENT DEVELOPMENTS

?
 MEDVEDEV VISITS

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 MEDVEDEV VISITS

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 NOTES

Copyright © 2011 S.A.B.

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Published 23.03.2011