Russian-Japanese border. About Japan

2. State border between Russia and the USA

3 ... State border between Russia and Japan

Rules for establishing maritime boundaries

• Sea border is established

• 1) an internal act of the state in compliance with international norms

• 2) by agreement with the border / opposite

• the state.

• The width of the territorial waters ranges from 3 to 12 nautical miles.

• The exceptions are:

• * neutral international rivers (Danube),

• * neutral international straits (Gibraltar, English Channel,

• Magellanov),

• * international channels (Suez, Panama - neutral,

• as well as Kiel and Corinthian),

• * historical bays - the territory of a particular state

• (Hudson Bay is a territory of Canada,

• Varanger Fjord - Norway).

Codification of international law

• 1958 d. - First (Geneva) conference

• United Nations on the Law of the Sea.

• The result of the conference,

• was the adoption of four international conventions:

• about the territorial sea and the contiguous zone;

• about the high seas;

• about the continental shelf;

• on fishing and protection of living resources of the high seas

• 1982 UN Convention was developed at the 3rd UN Conference on the Law of the Sea. The task was "the adoption of a convention on all matters relating to the law of the sea." Dec 6 it was signed by representatives of 119 states.

• The convention incorporated a number of international customs and provisions of the 1958 Geneva Conventions.

• 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea entered into force November 16, 1994 year, 12 months after it was ratified by 60 states.

• November 16, 2004 the ten-year period established by the provisions of Art. 312 of the Convention, after which

• any participating State will be able by sending

• written communication addressed to the General

• the UN Secretary to propose specific amendments to it.

• Photo: http://news.ntv.ru/65291/

Maritime Doctrine of the Russian Federation Approved on July 27, 2001 by the President of the Russian Federation

• The principles of the National Maritime Policy are:

• compliance with generally accepted norms of international law and

• international agreements ...;

• priority of political, diplomatic, economic, informational and

• other non-military means in resolving contradictions ... and eliminating threats to the national security of the Russian Federation from ocean and sea directions;

• possession of the necessary naval potential and its effective use, if necessary, to support the state's maritime activities by force;

• an integral approach to maritime activities in general and its differentiation in certain areas, taking into account changes in their priority depending on the geopolitical situation;

• maintaining the components of the maritime potential of the Russian Federation at levels corresponding to the national interests of Russia ...;

• interaction and coordination of efforts in the formation and implementation of the national maritime policy of the authorities of the Russian Federation ...;

• state control over ships flying the State flag of the Russian Federation, state port control, control over the state and use of natural resources of internal sea waters, the territorial sea, the exclusive economic zone and the continental shelf of the Russian Federation;

Russia's participation in international organizations on the law of the sea, the seabed, the boundaries of the continental shelf

• Russia, as one of the leading maritime powers, is regularly elected to the Council of the International Maritime Organization of a specialized agency of the United Nations,

• is an active participant in the Meeting of the Parties to the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea,

• a member of the International Seabed Authority (52 countries signed),

• member of many other universal and regional “maritime” intergovernmental forums, incl. created in accordance with the Convention:

• International Seabed Authority

• International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea

• Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf

• UN Informal Consultative Process

• on the law of the sea

Agreement concerning the Assignment of Russian Property in North America between His Majesty the Emperor of Russia and the United States of America on June 20, 1867

• Article I Western border, within which it is located

• transferred territory passes

• through bering Strait 65 ° 30'N

• with the meridian that runs

• halfway between the islands Krusenstern, or Ignalook,

• and islands Ratmanova, or Noonarbook,

• and continues north, without limitation, into the Arctic Ocean.

• The same western border starting at the same beginning

• follows almost southwest through the Bering Straits and the Bering Sea,

• to pass on the halfway between

• northwest point of the island st. Lawrence

• and southeast point Chukotka Cape, to meridian 172 West longitude;

• From here, from the intersection of this meridian, in a southwest direction,

• runs halfway between the island Attu (Attou)

• and the island Copper (Copper) of the Commander Archipelago in the North Pacific Ocean,

• to meridian 193 °h.d,

• to include on the transferred territory all the Aleutian Islands to the east of this meridian "...

• Representatives of the United States and the Emperor of All Russia: William H. Seward and Edward Stoskl

• from the point of intersection of the parallel 65 ° 30'Nwith the meridian that runs between you Krusensternand Ratmanova

• through bering Strait to the north

• between the northwest point of the island st. Lawrence

• and southeast point Chukotka Cape, to the meridian 172º west d.

• from the intersection of this meridian passes between the islands Attuand Copper to the meridian 193 ° West

• Bering Sea

• Photo: http://www.booksite.ru/fulltext/1/001/008/111/790.htm

Formation of the Russian-American border

• Russia and the United States of America have the longest maritime borders - in the North Pacific Ocean, in the Arctic Ocean, in the Bering and Chukchi Seas.

• 1867 - the border line was first marked in the Agreement on the Assignment of Russian Property in North America.

• Starting point: meridian passed through 65 parallel between oh-you Krusenstern and Ratmanova continuing northward without limit.

• In the southwest, the border runs between the islands Copper and Attu.

• 1926 On April 15, by a resolution of the Presidium of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR, the middle of the strait "separating the Ratmanov and Kruzenshtern Islands of the group of Diomede Islands in the Bering Strait" meridian at 168º 49 min. 30 sec. west longitude.

• 1990 June 1 - An agreement was signed on the demarcation line between the US and Russia. The United States has ratified this Agreement, Russia has not.

• Currently, the agreement with the United States, although not ratified by the Russian parliament, is being respected by both sides.

Shevardnadze-Becker Agreement Washington, June 1, 1990

• (the agreement was concluded by the ministers of foreign affairs

• E. Shevardnadze and J. Becker in the presence of the Presidents of the USSR and the USA)

• * Delimitation

• * The passage of the contractual state

• borders between the territories of the USSR and the USA

• * Based on the line indicated in the 1867 Convention

• * The agreement delimited the economic zone and the continental shelf of the USSR and the USA in the waters of the Arctic Ocean, the Chukchi and Bering seas, as well as the Pacific Ocean

• * The starting point of the demarcation line has coordinates 65º 30 "north latitude and 168 º 58 "37" "West longitude. At this point the maritime state border, the borders of economic zones and the continental shelf between the USSR and the USA converge.

Opinion: "The agreement between the USSR and the USA in 1990 on the demarcation line of sea spaces infringes on the fishing and state interests of Russia"

• In the Resolution of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation

"On the consequences of the application of the Agreement between the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the United States of America on the demarcation line of sea spaces of 1990 for the national interests of the Russian Federation" June 14 2002 year No. 2880-III The State Duma says that as a result of the delimitation of maritime spaces in accordance with the Agreement in the Bering Sea, the United States went to:

• - part of the economic zone of the USSR with an area of \u200b\u200b23.7 thousand square meters. km., actually transferred by the Soviet Union to the United States of America back in 1977;

• - part of the exclusive economic zone of the USSR with an area of \u200b\u200b7.7 thousand square meters. km;

• - a section of the continental shelf with an area of \u200b\u200b46.3 thousand sq. km in the open central part of the Bering Sea, beyond 200 nautical miles from the baselines.

• + the area of \u200b\u200bthe continental shelf, which was assigned to the Russian Federation in this part of the Bering Sea, amounted to only 4.6 thousand square meters. km.

• In a separate section, the US economic zone has exceeded the distance of 200 nautical miles from the baselines, which is contrary to Article 57 of the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.

• According to experts' estimates, the total losses of the Russian fishing industry associated with the application of the Agreement amounted to about 2.8 million tons of fish worth over USD 1.4 billion.

• Photo: http://transbez.com/news/200602162040.html

Formation of the situation around the sea areas in the Bering Sea

• 1975 - USSR declares a 200-mile zone near its shores as an economic zone

• 1977 - The USA proposed the USSR as a basis for solving the issues of delimiting 200-mile zones in those areas where they overlapped, take the line of the 1867 Convention g., ratified by Russia and the United States. After a long consideration by various departments, a political decision was made: to agree with this decision in principle.

• In the economic zone, the United States allocated to Soviet fishermen fishing quotain the amount of 150 thousand tons.

• IN 1981 - One of the US sanctions against the USSR was the abolition of the allocation of quotas. A few years later, a verbal agreement was reached on the joint implementation of fishing in these areas (until 1990).

• 1990 On June 1, the “ Shevardnadze-Becker agreement».

• 2000 d. signing agreements on cooperation and interaction between

• coast guard US 17th District and Northeast Regional

• management of the Federal Border Service of Russia.

• 2001, July 27 comes into force Naval doctrine RF.

• 2002 g - the American side announced that

• she is satisfied with the parameters of the 1990 Agreement.

• Photo: http://news.rin.ru/news/31475/

Russian-American border problems: 1) No-man's economic zones in maritime areas... In a number of sea areas, economic zones of states overlap each other (the distance between the coasts is less than 400 miles) 2) Continental shelf outside the economic zone... In the central part of the Bering Sea, outside the economic zones, there remains a significant area of \u200b\u200bopen sea waters surrounded on all sides by these zones (distance less than 700 miles, i.e. 350 + 350)

The delimitation of the sea borders of Russia and the United States is one of the most intractable border situations

• Every year, the Bering Sea, the busiest fishing section of the border, is experiencing significant tension caused by the detention of Russian fishing vessels by the US Coast Guard, which are accused of violating the contractual maritime demarcation line.

• Some of the detained ships were escorted to US Pacific ports under convoy and released only after paying significant fines.

• Photo: Bering Sea. http: //www.RussianChicago.com/common/arc/story.php? id_cat \u003d 2810 & id ...

Northeast asia

http://www.kurilstour.ru/islands.shtml?map

Geographical characteristics of the Kuril Islands

• 1) Archipelago (Japanese Chishima-retto) - a chain of volcanic islands between Kamchatka Peninsula and Hokkaido Island

• 2) Big and Small ridge of islands

• 3) Separate the Sea of \u200b\u200bOkhotsk from the Pacific Ocean

• 4) Length about 1200 km., area about 15,6 thousand sq. km.

• 5) The 200-mile zone of the islands connects with a similar zone in the Sea of \u200b\u200bOkhotsk.

• 6) All straits leading to the Pacific Ocean pass through the Kuriles.

• 7) B 1946 the city of Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan and Habomai and were included in the RSFSR by the decree of the Presidium of the USSR Supreme Soviet

• 8) The total area of \u200b\u200ball disputed islands 5 thousand sq. km.

• 9) Fish processing plays a major role in the economy of the islands

• 10) Mineral resources: gold, silver, zinc, copper, lead, iron, vanadium, agates, sulfur. Ore, titanium. Bioresources: salmon, crabs, seaweed (the world's richest deposit of red algae, accounting for 89% of the reserves of the entire Far East region).

• Photo: Kuriles http://www.communist.ru/archive.php?24

Formation of the Russian-Japanese state border

• 1855 y., 26 Jan. (Feb 7) - Treatise on Trade and Borders (Iturup - Urup).

• 1875 g., 25 Apr. (May 7) - treatise. according to which the islands from Urup to Shumshu were peacefully ceded to Japan in exchange for the cession of rights to Sakhalin.

• 1905 g., 23 Aug. (Sept 5) - Portsmouth Peace. Russia ceded to Japan a part of Sakhalin Island south of the fiftieth parallel of northern latitude.

• 1925 G., January 20 - The Convention on the Basic Principles of Relations between the USSR and Japan, which proclaimed the establishment of diplomatic relations between them. The USSR agreed that the 1905 Treaty of Portsmouth remained in effect.

• 1945 G., July 26 - Potsdam Declaration USA, UK and China, to which 8 Aug. 1945 the USSR joined. It is fixed that Japanese sovereignty will be limited to the islands of Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu, Shikoku and smaller islands, as indicated by the allies. Japan 15 Aug 1945 adopted the Potsdam Declaration and surrendered.

• 1951 city, 8 Sept. - San Francisco Peace Treaty... Japan renounced all claims to the Kuril Islands and the southern part of the island. Sakhalin. The USSR did not sign this treaty.

• 1956 19 October - The joint declaration of the USSR and Japan ended the state of war and restored diplomatic and consular relations between the two countries. The USSR agreed to the transfer of Habomai Island and Shikotan Island to Japan, however, that the actual transfer of these islands would be made after the conclusion of the Peace Treaty.

1991 g., 18 Apr. - in Joint Soviet-Japanese statementfollowing the summit talks in Tokyo, it was said that the parties held negotiations, including on the issue of territorial delimitation, taking into account the positions of the parties on the ownership of the Habomai Islands, Shikotan Island, Kunashir Island and Iturup Island. The statement also stresses the importance of speeding up the work on the conclusion of a peace treaty.

South Kuril Islands, which Japan claims: 2 islands of the Great Kuril ridge (Iturup, Kunashir) 6 islands of the Lesser Kuril ridge (5 islands of the Habomai group and the Shikotan island) Habomai islands: 1) Shikotan 2) Green 3) Tanfilieva 4) Polonsky 5) Yuri 6) Anuchina a number of surface rocks

Between the South Kuriles and Japan since April 1992 year, there is a visa-free exchange. Tokyo regularly provides logistical and humanitarian assistance to the islanders. Thus, the Japanese helped to restore the destroyed infrastructure after the strongest earthquake in 1994. At present, in Yuzhno-Kurilsk (on Kunashir) they have built a single pier and a power plant. Photo: http://www.info-online.ru/news36611.html

• South Kurils

• FROM 2005 d. 402 million 205 thousand rubles were allocated for the implementation of the federal target program “Socio-economic development of the Kuril Islands and the Sakhalin region”.

• Kunashir - the southernmost island of the ridge.

• Area about 1550 sq. km. Height up to 1819 m.

• The island has active volcanoes and hot springs,

• acts geothermal power plant (Geothermal power plant)

• power of 500 kW.

• The village of Yuzhno-Kurilsk is located on the island

• (about 5500 people) and the Kurilskiy reserve.

• The LLC "Yuzhno-Kurilskiy Kombinat" operates.

• 2005: funds allocated for the construction of the Mendeleevsky energy complex

• Iturup- the largest island in terms of area (6725 km2). Volcanic massif (height up to 1634 m): Kudryavy volcano and others. Kurilsk city (about 2700 people as of 1989), Gorny. Deep sea bay Orca... Kuril fish factory. In 2005

• funds were allocated for the construction of the Ocean

• energy complex, port point.

• The fish factory is being reconstructed.

• Shikotan - the largest island

• in the Small Kuril Ridge (182 km2).

• Settlements - Malokurilskoe and Krabozavodskoe.

• Fishing and hunting of marine animals are developed.

• Leading enterprise - JSC "Fish processing plant" Ostrovnoy "-

• it is the largest enterprise in the industry in the Far East.

• cJSC "Krabozavodsky" is also located. Problems: coal delivery.

• Habomai Islands: Malokurilskoe, Krabozavodskoe.

• Since 2005, a school for 200 places has been built at Krabozavoskom.

Territorial problem: positions of the parties

Japan: The 1956 Japanese-Soviet Joint Declaration is one-sidedly interpreted. It is proposed to conclude a peace treaty by solving the territorial problem by transferring only two islands - Habomai and Shikotan. Not a single official word was spoken about the Tokyo Declaration, which sets out the agreements between Japan and the renewed Russia. And not only about the Tokyo Declaration. The islands were illegally occupied by the Soviet Army immediately after the end of the Second World War.

• Russia: Moscow recognizes the 1956 Declaration and thus two islands of the southern Kuril ridge can be transferred to Japan. To normalize relations with Japan, it is necessary to sign a peace treaty, within the framework of which the territorial problem should also be settled.

I will not be mistaken if I say with certainty that, probably, everyone has heard about this problem at least with an ear. "Northern territories" (for Russia - southern) have long been a stumbling block in relations between the two neighboring countries, Russia and Japan. Much is mixed in this long-standing dispute: history, international law, foreign and domestic policy, military strategy, national feelings, etc. It is mainly considered from two sides: from the point of view of international law and from the point of view of history, that is, priority in discovery and research.

In this article I would like to highlight the relationship between the two countries regarding the territorial affiliation of the South Kuril Islands and Sakhalin and to interest the reader in this problem, in the formation of their views.

So, the problem of the "northern territories". These territories include three relatively large (Shikotan, Iturup, Kunashir) and a number of small islands of the Kuril ridge, the so-called Khabomai ridge (Polonsky, Zeleny, Tanfilieva, Yuri, Anuchina, Demina, Signalny, Lisi, Shishki). The dispute about who still owns this territory permeates the entire history of relations between the two neighboring states, sometimes fading out, then aggravating again. For example, in Soviet times, this problem simply "did not exist." The Soviet government did not recognize its existence. However, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia became his successor. Russia, which calls itself a democratic state. Russia, which seeks to transfer its economy with the least losses to a "market track". Russia, which wants to closely cooperate with other states and intends to become a full-fledged and full-fledged member of the modern international community, which is new to us both economically and in many other aspects. At such a moment, it is natural to recall the existence of this problem, since Japan is one of the attractive economic partners in the rather promising Asia-Pacific region. The situation is complicated by the fact that for many years of the Cold War, Japan was, figuratively speaking, "on the other side of the barricades" and at a time when many of us did not even suspect the existence of the problem, there was active anti-Soviet propaganda. As a result, today we have a rather reactionary Japanese public opinion.

The development of Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands and the formation of the Russian-Japanese border

The beginning of the formation of the Russian-Japanese maritime border in the Sakhalin region and the Kuril Islands, as well as the beginning of the study of these territories in general, date back to the 17th century. It is assumed that the Nivkhs who visited the island in winter, when a narrow part of the strait froze, were the first to learn about Sakhalin. Sometimes even in summer they sailed across the Tatar Strait on their boats. The first relatively accurate information about Sakhalin in Russia came from the members of the expedition under the direction of the written head V.D. Poyarkov in 1643 - 1646 However, the existence of islands in the Sea of \u200b\u200bOkhotsk could have been suspected even before that. In the description of the expedition of Maxim Perfiliev in 1693 - 1641. along the Vitim and Amur rivers it is said that the mouth of the Amur is free, there is no peninsula, and that Chinese merchant ships sail along the Tatar Strait (in order to pass from the shores of China, i.e. from the south, to the mouth of the Amur, you need to pass most of the Tatar Strait , including its narrowest section - the Nevelskoy Strait). It is likely that Perfilyev could have known from local peoples about the island, which lies opposite the mouth of the Amur.

Around the same period, the Russians learned about the Kuril Islands. According to some Russian sources, Fedot Alekseevich Popov, a member of the Dezhnev expedition in 1648-1649, was the first to visit them. The Japanese historian T. Matsunaga wrote: “In 1643 (the 20th year of Kei-an) the Russians came to Kamchatka and discovered the Tisimskie Islands, the name of which they changed to Kuril”, and after Bering's voyage, “the Russians occupied the next 21 islands”, that is, all the Kuriles, for the 22nd island was called Hokkaido. He also writes about Sakhalin: “They say that the Russians arrived on the island of Karafuto for the first time in 1650 (the third year of Kei-an's reign), and from that time the northern part of the island became the possession of Russia. Our country, although it claims that Karafuto has long constituted our possessions, there is no actual occupation of its territories by us. " There are also sources that support the discovery of the Kuriles and Sakhalin by the Japanese. For example, the German Japanese scholar F. Siebold reported in the middle of the 19th century that in 1613 the Japanese traveled to Sakhalin to describe and map it.

D. Garrison wrote that back in 1604, the military ruler of Japan, the shogun, granted Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands to Prince Matsumae, and Rei Shiratori argued that the indigenous population of the Kuriles had been in vassal relations with the central authorities of Japan since 1615. About who after all the first to know about the existence of the islands can be argued for a long time, but probably it is worth paying great attention not only to the dates, but also to the very methods of penetration into the islands and the goals that they pursued. The Japanese basically established trade contacts, and the trade was quite active and was of an equal nature. Some Ainu left with the Japanese for Hokkaido, being hired by the latter. For the Russian pioneers, the main task was not so much trade as the annexation of these lands to the Russian state and, in accordance with this, taxation of the local population with yasak, that is, collection in favor of the treasury. Moreover, the Russians often met resistance from the local population and used force. An important role was played by the fact that in 1638 - 1639. Shogun Iemitsu Tokugawa, outraged by the activities of the Jesuits in Japan, bans Christianity and "closes" the country from the outside world. From now on, for many years any travel abroad is punishable by death. And although the northern boundaries were not clearly defined, even the Hokkaido island was investigated at that time on the sly, haphazardly and almost no official data about them survived. One way or another, we can talk about the discovery and exploration of the islands at about the same time by the Russians from the north and the Japanese from the south. And despite the fact that Russian researchers had official support from the state in their research, it is still impossible to talk about the peremptory right to possession of all the islands of Russia, considering this issue from the point of view of priority in pioneering and development. Nevertheless, until the 19th century, that is, until the first treaty between Russia and Japan, Sakhalin and the Kuril ridge were considered the territory of the Russian Empire.

Russian-Japanese negotiations of the XIX, early XX centuries

The beginning of Russian-Japanese diplomatic and trade relations was laid by the Shimoda Treaty on Trade and Borders, concluded on February 7, 1855. It was signed as a result of negotiations led by E. Putyatin. According to this treatise, diplomatic relations were established between Russia and Japan; the subjects of the two countries were to mutually enjoy patronage and protection; ports of Nagasaki, Shimoda, Hakodate were opened for Russian ships; allowed the stay of the Russian consul in one of the Japanese cities from 1856, etc.

The border was established between the islands of Urup and Iturup - i.e. Islands Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan and Habomai retreated to Japan. Sakhalin remained undivided. In the instructions for the negotiations, Nicholas I wrote that it should be done so that "from our side, the southern tip of this island [Urupa] was (as it actually is now) the border with Japan."

The next milestone in Russian-Japanese relations was the signing in 1875 of the Petersburg Treaty, according to which, in exchange for abandoning its claims to the southern part of Sakhalin Island, Japan received the entire Kuril ridge. This was explained in Russian history again as forced actions, a consequence of the difficult situation in Russia during that period, which was caused by the following factors:

• Concentration of Russian diplomacy in the Middle East, where a crisis and war with Turkey were brewing at that time;
• Insufficiently strong positions of Russia at that time in the Pacific region;

In refutation of the thesis that Russia was forced to sign the 1875 treaty of the year, one can cite the idea, carried out in a number of studies, that the Russian authorities themselves intended to exchange the Kuriles that remained after 1855 for the more valuable Sakhalin, as well as evidence of discontent with the 1875 treaty that broke out in Japan as infringing on the interests of the Japanese state.

USSR - Japan

Young Soviet Russia recognized the 1905 Treaty of Portsmouth as valid. It was concluded after the Russo-Japanese War. Under this agreement, Japan not only retained all the Kuril Islands, but also received South Sakhalin.

This was the case with the disputed islands before World War II - even until 1945. I want to once again draw general attention to the fact that until 1945 Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan and Habomai never belonged to Russia, and to say the opposite is to go against facts. Everything that happened after 1945 is no longer so unambiguous.

During almost the entire period of the Second World War (September 1939 - August 1945), Japan and the Soviet Union were not at war. For in April 1941, a Neutrality Pact was concluded between the two countries, valid for 5 years. However, on August 9, 1945, three days after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and on the same day of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, the Soviet Union, in violation of the Neutrality Pact, entered the war against Japan, the defeat of which was no longer in doubt. A week later, on August 14, Japan accepted the terms of the Potsdam Declaration and surrendered to the Allied powers.

After the end of the war, the entire territory of Japan was occupied by the Allied forces. As a result of negotiations between the allies, the territory of Japan proper was to be occupied by US troops, Taiwan by Chinese troops, and Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands by Soviet troops. The occupation of the Northern Territories was a military occupation, completely bloodless after hostilities, and therefore was subject to termination as a result of a territorial settlement under a peace treaty.

During a war, the occupation of the territory of another country may occur, and the occupying country, according to international law, has the right to exercise its administration on the basis of military necessity. However, on the other hand, the 1907 Hague Convention on the Laws and Customs of War on Land and other international legal acts impose certain obligations on this country, in particular, respect for the private rights of the population. Stalin ignored these international norms and, by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of February 2, 1946, included the areas under occupation into the territory of his country.

And here is the opinion of the Japanese side: “We welcome the recent announcement by the Russian government that it is considering the territorial problem between Japan and Russia on the basis of legality and justice. Precisely from the point of view of legality and justice, we believe that the mentioned Presidium Decree is illegal and clarification of this is of paramount importance and the appropriation of the territory of another state through such a unilateral act is legally not allowed. "

A peace treaty between Japan and the United States, Britain and other allied countries was concluded in 1951 in San Francisco. The Soviet Union also took part in the peace conference, but it did not sign the San Francisco Treaty. In the San Francisco Conference and the San Francisco Peace Treaty regarding the Northern Territories problem, the following two points are significant.

The first is Japan's contractual waiver of all rights to South Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands. However, Iturup, Shikotan, Kunashir and the Habomai range, 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: “[They] are not included and there was no intention to include [in the Kuril Islands] the Habomai and Shikotan Ranges, as well as Kunashir and Iturup, which have always been part of Japan proper and, therefore, must be rightly recognized as being under Japanese sovereignty. " The second point is related to the fact that international recognition was not received for the act of annexation of South Sakhalin, the Kuriles and the Northern territories by the Soviet Union. First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the USSR A. Gromyko tried to achieve recognition of Soviet sovereignty over these regions, in particular, by proposing amendments to the treaty, but they were rejected by the conference and were not accepted into the content of the treaty. For this and a number of other reasons, the USSR did not sign the treaty. The San Francisco Treaty makes it clear that it does not confer any rights arising from the treaty to non-signatory countries.

Due to the fact that the USSR did not sign the San Francisco Treaty, from June 1955 to October 1956, negotiations were held between Japan and the Soviet Union with the aim of concluding a separate peace treaty between the two countries. These negotiations did not lead to an agreement: the Japanese side declared that Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan and the Habomai ridge were Japanese territory and demanded their return, while the Soviet side held the position that, having agreed to return only Shikotan and Habomai, it could not return Iturup and Kunashir.

As a result, Japan and the USSR, instead of a peace treaty, signed a Joint Declaration, that is, an agreement that provided for an end to the state of war and the restoration of diplomatic relations. Article 9 of this treaty states that after the establishment of diplomatic relations, the parties will continue negotiations to conclude a peace treaty; and also the USSR returns, after the conclusion of a peace treaty, the Habomai ridge and the island of Shikotan.

The Japanese-Soviet Joint Declaration was ratified by the parliaments of both countries and is a treaty deposited with the UN.

In April 1991, the then President of the USSR M. Gorbachev visited Japan. In the Japanese-Soviet Statement published at that time, the Habomai Ridge, Shikotan, Kunashir and Iturup Islands were clearly mentioned. The parties agreed that "the peace treaty should become a document of the final post-war settlement, including the solution of the territorial issue," and an agreement was also reached to accelerate the preparation of a peace treaty.

After the August democratic revolution, Russian President Boris Yeltsin proposed a new approach to the territorial issue inherited by Russia from the USSR, which is naturally and positively assessed since the government of the Russian Federation, inheriting the international legal obligations of the USSR, declares compliance with the UN Declaration. This new approach, firstly, underlines the understanding of the fact that as a result of positive changes in today's world, a new international order is emerging, in which there is no longer a division into winners and losers in the Second World War. Secondly, it was emphasized that in solving the territorial issue, legality and justice, including respect for international agreements concluded in the past, become important principles. And that's all. There was no further movement.

As for the policy of the current President Putin, Japanese politicians, led by former Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori, proposed to adhere to the updated Kavan plan for solving the problem, announced in April 1998 by Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto. The Kavan plan is that after the demarcation of the border and the legal consolidation of the islands to Japan, the disputed territories will remain de facto Russian for some time. The Russian delegation, however, rejected this proposal, stating that it could not be regarded as a mutually acceptable compromise. Putin, in turn, suggested moving towards a peace treaty gradually, while simultaneously building up the entire range of relations. To this end, Vladimir Putin invited the Prime Minister to pay an official visit to Russia, and the two leaders agreed to hold official meetings at least once a year - an analogue of what exists between Moscow and Beijing, our "strategic partner."

Now about the population of the ill-fated islands. According to Rudakova, head of the social department of the Kurilsk administration, the Japanese poll the Kuril residents every year if they want the islands to go to Japan. On Shikotan, as a rule, 60 percent do not want this, and 40 do not mind. On other islands, 70 percent strongly oppose it. “On Shikotan, after the 1994 earthquake, everything is Japanese, even fruit. The people are very used to freebies, they don't want to work. They think that the Japanese will always feed them this way, ”says Rudakova. Indeed, this option is not included in the plans of the Japanese. Back in March 1999, the Society for the Study of the Problem of Restoring Japan's Sovereignty over the Northern Territories developed rules according to which Russians would live on the islands after they were handed over to the Japanese. "Residents of Russian origin who have lived for more than 5 years after restoration in Japan, if they wish, have the opportunity to obtain Japanese citizenship after conducting an appropriate individual check," the document says.

Nevertheless, Japan, a mono-national country in which even the descendants of foreigners who settled several generations ago, cannot obtain citizenship, pretends that all the rights of the Russians remaining on the islands will be preserved. In order for the people of Kuril to see with their own eyes how wonderful their life will be under the new owners, the Japanese do not spare money for receptions. Iochi Nakano, head of the secretariat of the Hokkaido Commission for the Development of Relations with the Northern Islands, said that the island government spends $ 1,680 on just one Russian who comes to Hokkaido, not counting contributions from various public organizations. The Japanese authorities seem to have a different perception of what is happening. They are confident that their tactics are producing positive results. Iochi Nakano says: “Personally, I think there are few Russians on the northern islands who would like to remain Russians. If such exist, it is all the more important to teach them that the northern territories belong to Japan. " Kurilchan is very surprised by the ability of the Japanese to quickly believe what they want and pass it off as real. Rimma Rudakova recalls how in September 2000, when Putin was in Okinawa, the host Japanese began furiously arguing that a decision had already been made to transfer Shikotan and Habomai, and even started talking about starting negotiations on the transfer of southern Sakhalin. “When we left after ten days, they expressed regret that this had not happened,” she said.

Conclusion

So, where did the Russian-Japanese territorial dispute come to? Statements about the Kuril Islands belonging to one of the disputing parties on the basis of priorities in pioneering, pioneering description, pioneering population, pioneering and first accession in the legal sense do not outweigh each other. In international legal terms, the Kurils were partially assigned to Japan under the Shimodsky Treaty of 1855 and fully under the St. Petersburg Treaty of 1875. As for the Simodsky, St. Petersburg and Portsmouth Treaties, their status as international legal acts must be taken into account, signed by the representatives of both states and subject to strict observance. References to the fact that Russia was forced to sign these agreements are untenable. An important point is the agreement of the USSR, fixed in the Peking Treaty of 1925, that the Portsmouth Treaty remains in force. It is also difficult to agree with the encountered interpretation of the Peking Treaty as temporary for the USSR. Did Japan give up the Northern Territories at the end of World War II? To answer this question, it is important to decide whether or not the "disputed islands" belong to the concept of "Kuril Islands". An analysis of the Simod and St. Petersburg treaties does not confirm the correctness of either the Japanese side, which excludes the “northern territories” from the Kuriles, or the Soviet side, which takes the opposite position. As for the San Francisco Treaty, while securing Japan's renunciation of the Kuril Islands, it did not clarify the geographical limits of this concept. Under this treaty, Japan renounced the Kurils, but no international legal document defines either the addressee of this refusal, or the very concept of the Kuriles (that is, there is still room for assertions that the "northern territories" do not belong to the Kurils).

Below are two views of the problem.

"Why are the islands ours?" Russia's point of view

Complete and unconditional surrender (announced by Japan after defeat in the war) means not only the recognition of defeat in hostilities, but also the termination of the existence of the state as a subject of international relations, the loss of its sovereignty and powers, which are transferred to the victors. Thus, post-war Japan (as well as post-war Germany and the German Democratic Republic, and even the current united Germany) are not the successors of the subjectivity of the pre-war states; these are new states, created on the basis of allies within new borders, with new constitutions and authorities. Thus, being a new state, Japan cannot demand the "return" of the islands, which, moreover, it renounced under the San Francisco Peace Treaty.

"Why are the islands ours?" Japan's viewpoint

Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan and Habomai have always been Japanese territory and do not belong to the "areas captured by Japan through violence and greed" mentioned in the Cairo Declaration. The act of annexation of the Northern Territories contradicted the principle of non-expansion of territories, which was proclaimed by the same declaration.

As for the Yalta agreement, Japan, which did not sign it and did not even know about it at the time of signing, does not consider itself bound by it. In addition, the Yalta Agreement is only a document outlining general objectives and does not constitute a legal basis for the transfer of territory.

Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan and Habomai are not part of the Kuril Islands, which Japan renounced under the San Francisco Peace Treaty, since they are originally Japanese territory. Moreover, the treaty nowhere stipulates their transfer to the USSR.

Additional argument: the islands of Shikotan and Habomai are not part of the Kuril Islands, but are part of the island system of the island of Hokkaido. In turn, the concept of "Kuril Islands" does not cover a "special geographical unit" - "South Kuriles", ie Kunashir and Iturup.

NB: the last argument is very controversial in that part of it, which refers to the islands of Kunashir and Iturup, - the "South Kuriles" have never stood out as an independent group on geographical maps. Also controversial is the attribution of Shikotan to the island system of Hokkaido. On the other hand, the Habomai most likely really belong to her. But this question needs to be left for consideration by geologists.

And in conclusion of all this, let us remember what N. Lomanovich wrote before M.S. Gorbachev to Japan (1991): “... both sides provide numerous historical references, from which it is absolutely clear: the disputed islands have always been primordially Japanese (Russian) lands. These statements are, perhaps, mutually immoral. Let us remember that the Kuriles are, first of all, the original land of the Ainu ”.

Literature

1. Bondarenko O. "Unknown Kuriles" M. 1992.
2. Eremin V. “Russia - Japan. Territorial problem: finding a solution. " M. 1992.
3. A.P. Markov “Russia - Japan. In search of agreement. " M. 1996.
4. Resp. ed. Krushanov A.I. "History of the Far East of the USSR from ancient times to the 17th century." M. 1989.
5. Resp. ed. Khazanov A.M. “Russia - CIS - Asia. Problems and prospects of cooperation. " M. 1993.
6. "Nezavisimaya Gazeta" from 1991
7. "Japan times" No. 2230
8. "Soviet Sakhalin" ¹ 142 dated 04.08.01
9. sites on the Internet: http://www.lenta.ru; http://www.vld.ru/ppx/kurily; http://www.strana.ru; http://subscribe.ru/archive

On February 2, 1946, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR issued a decree, paragraph 1 of which 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 showing the new borders of defeated Japan.

Borders of Japan on the map-appendix 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 demarcation with Japan ...

In 1951, the borders of Japan specified in Directive No. 677 were fixed by the San Francisco Peace Treaty, by signing which the Japanese government officially renounced South Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands. However, subsequently, 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 incorrect, 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 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 a peace treaty even in the name of further development of good-neighborly relations with Japan (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 /). The agreement of Russia (and earlier the USSR) to meet the Japanese initiatives looks absolutely inexplicable, 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. In order to give a new powerful impetus to our relations, which is quite justified and sufficient to achieve this goal, it would be the conclusion between Russia and Japan of the Treaty on Friendship, Good Neighborliness and Development of Business, Scientific and Cultural Relations, which does not imply revising the long-resolved territorial issue. However, Russia allows itself to be drawn into unpromising 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 relaxation 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 the 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 \u200b\u200bOkhotsk will lose its status as a Russian inland sea and allow foreign warships
freely penetrate into its water area

Does Japan have grounds for any territorial claims against Russia?

Historical experience shows that the territorial problem has always been the handmaiden of unscrupulous politicians and the reason 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 aggression of Japanese troops in the vast territories of China, Korea, Southeast Asian countries, very convincingly indicate that when the question 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 the complete renunciation of the Japanese side of 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 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 Kuriles, 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, begun in the 1950s and intensified since the end of the 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 clause c) of Article 2 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 designated frivolously. Japanese borders are indicated in the "White Books" in the Kuril Islands region north of Iturup Island (which is reflected in a special amendment to the law on territories adopted by the Japanese parliament in 2009), and "disputed territories" extend to the middle of Sakhalin Island and to the Kamchatka Peninsula.

Sample 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 seen in the "Complete Atlas of Japan", 1982

In conclusion, I would like to stress 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, as 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 its signing, 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 statement that "the territorial issue between the USSR and Japan has been resolved and secured by appropriate international agreements" is contained in the third, April Note. That is, in the part concerning 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-year 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 questions 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 "necessity" of a peace treaty, cherishes a single goal: what if Russia does not resist pressure and give up the islands. And there are no more issues that hinder 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 what needs to be defended, and it is very important to stop reacting to the bright 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 World War II. The end is in that war. To develop good-neighborly relations between our countries, there is everything, except for fairly honest goodwill on the part of Japan and, possibly, someone's personal interests in the Russian establishment and oligarchy, in the expectation that Japan, having received an island region rich in natural resources with an impressive sea economic zone, will not stint on generous kickbacks.

From the Decrees of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of February 2, 1946 // Documents of the XX century. Vedomosti of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR from 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

Japan is a country with a unique culture and special social structure. The uniqueness of Japan lies in its history, life and borders of this state. The Land of the Rising Sun on land does not border on any other state, but on the sea its borders touch three countries at once.

Who does Japan border on?

Japan's maritime borders run alongside the following countries:

• The Russian Federation;
• Republic of Korea;
• And with China.

These states are not only neighbors of the Japanese, but also have territorial disputes with them, which have not been resolved in any way for several decades.

With Russia, Japan is trying to divide the Kuril Islands. Claims against Korea and China are also related to the island territories.

The Japanese borders run across the Pacific Ocean, as well as the Sea of \u200b\u200bJapan and the Sea of \u200b\u200bOkhotsk. Borders also lie in the East China Sea, some of them cover the Philippine waters.

« The Land of the Rising Sun is an island state. Japan has more than three thousand different islands».

The length of the Russian-Japanese border is approximately 194 kilometers. From the Russian point of view, the border with Japan covers the La Perouse, Soviet, Kunashir and Treason Strait. The Japanese, because of their claims to the Kuril Islands, draw the border through Frisa and La Perouse.

Since Japan, even today, is quite closed from the outside world, there are no customs and checkpoints at many of its borders. Entry into the country is fraught with many difficulties, and the list of things that cannot be brought into Japanese territory is quite impressive. Despite the difficulties of obtaining a visa, thousands of tourists regularly visit Japanese lands, because the culture of this state is worthy of all its foreign connoisseurs learning about it.

Don't think Japan is interested in islands. It is aimed at expanding the living space due to the huge water area.

In friendship, also know the border
Japanese proverb

Perhaps in late August - early September, President Putin will visit the Land of the Rising Sun. True, the Japanese said that the visit of the Russian president would take place only if Russia confirms that it agrees to negotiate the return of not two, but all four territories to Japan - the islands of the Lesser Kuril ridge (or, as the Japanese call them, Habomai), Shikotan , Kunashir and Iturup. Apparently, in response to this condition, Putin is going to visit one of the Kuril Islands - Shumshu as part of the expedition of the Russian Geographical Society. According to another version, Putin can go to Crimea. Of course, in the Tauric Chersonesos there is a chance, by tradition, to find an ancient amphora ... But on the almost uninhabited Kuril island of Shumshu, even without preliminary laying of artifacts by the presidential security service and eminent archaeologists, you can find Japanese dishes, a gas mask from the Second World War or a helmet of a Japanese soldier ...

Shumshu Island

The drawn bow will sooner or later weaken
Japanese proverb

It must be said that none of the Kuril Islands had such fierce battles as on the Shumshu Island, between the troops of the USSR and the Japanese Empire. On Shumshu there were 34 bunkers and 24 bunkers, several powerful strongholds, 310 firing points. Several military airfields were built on the island. One of them, even in the mid-90s, still received helicopters from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. Naval bases and airfields had powerful air defenses.

In the vast dungeons, there were living quarters, hospitals, communication centers, food warehouses. Sometimes the depth of these underground shelters reached 50 meters, which completely protected them from powerful artillery shells. Some of these man-made caves are still well preserved.

By 23 August 1945, on the island of Shumshu, the Red Army disarmed and captured 526 Japanese generals and officers, as well as 11,700 soldiers. In total, during the liberation of the Kuril Islands until September 1, 1945, almost 60 thousand soldiers surrendered.

President Dmitry Medvedev photographed the sites of fierce fighting during a visit to the Kuril Islands, 2010. Photo: RIA Novosti

According to official data, 839 Soviet soldiers and officers and about a thousand Japanese soldiers were killed in the five days of hostilities on Shumshu Island.

Now the Japanese often come to Shumshu, to the places of fierce battles, on a visa-free exchange to bow to the memory of their dead fellow citizens and leave candles and sweets on the wrecked Japanese tanks.

By the way, the Japanese do not need a visa to visit the Kuriles (they consider this territory theirs, so Russia made concessions to them so as not to offend their feelings), and for the Russians, entry to the Kuriles is only with the written permission of the FSB border service, since the Kuriles are this is a border zone.

Unconditional surrender

The general of a broken army is better off not talking about battles
Japanese proverb

On August 14, 1945, the Japanese emperor Hirohito announced the surrender of Japan. But according to the report of the Chief of the General Staff of the Red Army, General of the Army Alexei Antonov on August 16, 1945, "the surrender was just a general declaration." “The order to the armed forces to cease hostilities has not yet been issued, and the Japanese armed forces continue to resist. Therefore, the armed forces of the Soviet Union in the Far East will continue their offensive operations against Japan. " This is a very important point, since the Japanese government maintains all the time that the Kuril Islands were occupied by the Soviet Union after Japan's declaration of surrender. So, in the opinion of the Japanese, the islands were "stolen" by the Soviet Union already in peacetime. In fact, Japan officially signed the Act of Unconditional Surrender only on September 2, 1945.

Complete and unconditional surrender is fundamentally different from simple surrender, which means admission of defeat in hostilities and does not affect the international legal personality of the defeated power. Such a state retains its sovereignty and itself negotiates the terms of peace. And complete and unconditional surrender is the termination of the existence of the subject of international relations, the dismantling of the former state, its loss of sovereignty and all power powers, which are transferred to the winners who determine the conditions of peace and the post-war order. In place of the former state, a new subject of international law appears. Germany, East Germany and Japan are new states. They were created on the terms of allies in new borders, with new constitutions and authorities. Today's Japan is not the successor of the Japanese state, which started and lost the war, and therefore has no right to demand the "return" of the islands. By the way, in World War II, Japan lost 44% of its territories. “What does it mean to revise and return these islands? It means recognizing that the actions were wrong against Japan. That is, Japan was not an aggressor, but a victim. And this is very important for Japan and its mentality, ”said Vasily Saplin, the former consul general of Russia in Sapporo.

But here is what, for example, the chairman of the Privy Council of Japan, Hara Kado, said at the imperial meeting on July 2, 1941: “Someone might say that in connection with the Neutrality Pact it would be unethical for Japan to attack the Soviet Union. But the Soviet Union itself was used to non-compliance with agreements. If we attack the Soviet Union, no one will consider it a betrayal. I look forward to the opportunity to strike at the Soviet Union. I ask the army and government to do this as soon as possible. The Soviet Union must be destroyed. "

Japanese tank on the Shumshu island. Photo: website esosedi.org

In the argumentation of official Tokyo about the ownership of the Kuril Islands, a special place is occupied by references to the treaties of the 19th century - the Shimoda trade agreement of 1855 (according to which the border was drawn between the islands of Urup and Iturup, and Sakhalin remained undivided), as well as the St.Petersburg Treaty of 1875 (according to which Japan recognized the entire Sakhalin as Russian in exchange for the transfer of all the Kuril Islands to it). However, the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905 canceled out all previous agreements, since according to international law, a state of war between states terminates all treaties between them. By the way, this was exactly what Japan indicated to the chairman of the Committee of Ministers of the Russian Empire, Count Witte, who tried to keep South Sakhalin for Russia at the Portsmouth negotiations in 1905, referring precisely to the 1875 treaty. As a result, in the Portsmouth Peace Treaty, Russia ceded to the victorious Japan all the Kuriles and South Sakhalin, which was always viewed by Russian diplomacy as a great defeat.

Declarations, promises, confessions ...

A fallen chrysanthemum will not return to the bush
Japanese proverb

The Soviet-Japanese declaration of October 19, 1956 speaks of the end of the state of war, as well as the USSR's consent to transfer the islands of Habomai and Shikotan to Japan - but after the conclusion of a peace treaty. However, a declaration is not yet an agreement, but a protocol of intent. And the declaration is not about returning, but about transfer, that is, the readiness to dispose of our territory as goodwill.

Former Consul General of Russia in Sapporo Vasily Saplin says about the 1956 declaration: “It was a great political game. It was an attempt to pull Japan out of full US control. The idea was to make Japan a neutral Eastern Finland. How the USSR managed to do it in the 50s with Finland. And the stake was placed on the fact that Japan depended on the USSR in the matter of joining the UN. The consent of the USSR was needed. The second point is fishing. All these negotiations in 1956 were promoted by the fish lobby in Japan. And Prime Minister Hatoyama was also from this lobby ( Ichiro Hatoyama - Prime Minister of Japan from 1954 to 1956. — EAT.). But all of these ideas were shattered by a challenge from the Japanese Foreign Minister [Mamoru Shigemitsu] to the United States, where then CIA Director Allen Dulles brainwashed the minister and said Japan should demand all four islands. If you agree to two, you will not get back Okinawa. " ( Mamoru Shigemitsu was the head of the Japanese delegation in London to restore diplomatic relations with the USSR. It was Shigemitsu who signed the Act of Surrender on behalf of the Japanese government on September 2, 1945. years aboard the battleship Missouri. Shigemitsu was then convicted by the International Military Tribunal as one of the main war criminals.. — EAT.)

Japanese ships were detained by Russian border guards for illegal fishing. 1990 year. Photo: TASS

“Japan's actual recognition of the Soviet border on the Kuril Islands is the fishing agreements it signed with the Soviet Union, in particular, the agreements of 1963 and 1981. ( Agreement between the USSR and Japan on the fishing of seaweed by Japanese fishermen in the area of \u200b\u200babout. Signal (Small Kuril Ridge), which stated that "Japanese fishermen<…> must comply with the laws, regulations and rules of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in force in the area. " True, in the 1998 agreement, this most important condition, which had been in effect for over thirty years, disappeared. It says: “The parties cooperate in order to carry out the harvesting of living resources by Japanese fishing vessels in the sea area<…> off the islands of Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan and Habomai, as well as the conservation, rational use and reproduction of living resources in this sea area. " That is, Russia cooperates with a foreign state fishing in our territorial waters, and does not allow him to conduct this fishing for an appropriate fee, as it always happens in such cases. — EAT.) Japan's demands for the transfer of the South Kuril Islands to it are nothing more than a reluctance to recognize the territorial results of World War II, and therefore the signing of a peace treaty between the Russian Federation and Japan on the conditions put forward by Japan will mean legal confirmation of the revision of these results, with all the resulting dangerous consequences not only for the Asia-Pacific region, given that there are more than enough potentially conflict and disputed territories in the world after World War II, ”said Igor Latyshev, Doctor of Historical Sciences, professor, former correspondent of the Pravda newspaper in Japan.

“Returning to the logic of the Shimoda Treaty of 1855, Japan now does not indicate its interest in Sakhalin<…>but then [after the transfer of the Kuriles] the next step will be to formally present Japan's claim for joint ownership of Sakhalin Island.<…> I see a great desire among the current leaders in the Kremlin to do everything in the name of common human values, the next step is Sakhalin Island. And what will we have left in the Far East? The Pacific Fleet will cease to exist, it will be just a mosquito fleet, torpedo boats. The Sea of \u200b\u200bOkhotsk is becoming open, now it is half-closed, almost the entire continental shelf belongs to Russia, the resources of the water column, and so it will generally be open, which means the presence of foreign military forces, and great damage will be done to the basing of the nuclear submarine fleet, ”he said at the meeting round table "Russian-Japanese territorial dispute: history, modernity, prospects of settlement" Boris Tkachenko, leading researcher at the Institute of History, Archeology and Ethnography of the Peoples of the Far East. True, to all the fears of Russian scientists about Japan's potential claims to Sakhalin Island, the director of the Russian department of the European Department of the Japanese Foreign Ministry, Kodera Jiro, certainly answers: "We will not demand Sakhalin from you - that is clear."

Map from the Japanese brochure "Activities of the Japanese government to assist Russia." The islands of Shikotan, Kunashir, Iturup and the Small Kuril Ridge (Habomai) are painted in the color of the Japanese state, while the southern part of Sakhalin Island and the rest of the Kuril Islands, from Urup Island to Shumshu Island, are marked in white, meaning that Japan does not recognize the sovereignty of Russia over these territories. PDF

In the early 90s, the Japanese offered Russia money for the Kuril Islands - $ 28 billion. In just one year of the official catch of seafood in the waters of the Kuril Islands, you can get more than 4 billion dollars, that is, in 7 years, Japan would have more than returned this money to itself. And this would be in addition to the increased authority and willpower of the Japanese state in upholding national interests. The Third (Extraordinary) Congress of People's Deputies of Russia (March-April 1991) accused Gorbachev of trying to sell part of the state territory to foreigners. The Kurils were not sold, but during his visit to Japan, Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev recognized the equal rights of the USSR and Japan in the dispute over the ownership of the Southern Kuriles.

And then there was a five-stage plan of Russian President Boris Yeltsin to resolve the territorial problem between Russia and Japan. In particular, at one of the stages, a joint protectorate of Russia and Japan over the South Kuriles was supposed.

Boris Yeltsin and his wife during a “no ties” meeting with the Japanese prime minister, 1998. Photo: RIA Novosti

In 2001, at a meeting between President Putin and Prime Minister Mori, an informal agreement was concluded on the phased transfer of the Northern Territories to Japan: first, the Lesser Kuril Ridge and Shikotan Island, and only then the signing of a peace treaty. And the islands of Kunashir and Iturup will be given to the joint economic use of Russia and Japan until the final determination of their status.

“I have information that during Putin’s visit (2001) some kind of memorandum was signed, which even provides for campaigning events by the Russian media.<…> that is, it will not be Japanese propaganda, but the Japanese government will pay for the Russian media<…>where the Japanese point of view will be reflected and imposed on the public opinion of Russia, ”said Boris Tkachenko, a leading researcher at the Institute of History, Archeology and Ethnography of the Peoples of the Far East, at a meeting of the aforementioned round table.

Japan's next prime minister, Koizumi, has already demanded that Russia surrender all four islands even before the conclusion of a peace treaty. “We adhere to the point of view that from 1945 to the present day the former Soviet Union occupied them, and now they are captured. The Northern Territories are the administrative division of Hokkaido, ”said former governor of Hokkaido, Tatsuya Hori.

In this regard, I would like to recall the memorandum of the Commander-in-Chief of the Allied Powers MacArthur to the Japanese imperial government No. 677 dated January 29, 1946, according to which the Kuril Islands, the Habomai group of islands, and the Shikotan Island were excluded from the territory of Japan. In other words, the entire Kuril ridge consists of 29 islands.

"Give it back, Russian!"

Wanting a lot - wanting nothing
Japanese proverb

The return of the Kuriles became a national idea for the Japanese. Significant funds are annually allocated from the state budget for the program for the return of the "Northern Territories". In Japanese propaganda booklets and films, it is said that the Northern Territories is a native land of Japan, and from the point of view of international agreements, they never belonged to any country other than Japan. "

On Japanese maps, the islands of the Lesser Kuril Ridge, Shikotan Island, Kunashir Island and Iturup Island are painted in the color of the Japanese state, while the southern part of Sakhalin Island and the Kuril Islands, from Urup Island to Shumshu Island, are painted white, meaning that Japan does not recognize Russian sovereignty over these territories. And recently, the Japanese even released handkerchiefs with a geographical map of Hokkaido. On them, the Kuril Islands are painted in the color of the Land of the Rising Sun.

Russian-Japanese cemetery on the Iturup island. Photo: TASS

“When our exhibition of economic achievements was opened in Tokyo and a map of our country was posted there, the Japanese demanded to remove the card, since the Kurils were on the map as part of Russia. Only in this case was it allowed to hold an exhibition if the card was removed. And our embassy couldn't find anything better than to withdraw the card. In the 40s and 50s, Japanese maps reflected the real state of affairs, reflected the results of World War II, and on them the Kuril Islands and South Sakhalin were painted over in the color of Soviet territory. The recoloring of cards began in the second half of the 60s. Of course, this is done with the knowledge of the Japanese government and at the behest of the Japanese authorities. Painting these territories in the color of Japanese territory is nothing more than cartographic aggression. But, unfortunately, our diplomacy takes it calmly, "said Igor Latyshev, Doctor of Historical Sciences, professor, a former correspondent of the Pravda newspaper in Japan.

For the past two decades, every year on August 9, the day the Soviet-Japanese war began, Japanese activists have held protest demonstrations. On huge shields - a Soviet-Russian soldier with an animal grin and a signature in Japanese: "The islands were taken away from us."

And on February 7, the Japanese government declared the "Day of the Return of the Northern Territories" - meaning the Kuril Islands. On this day, numerous demonstrations of the "rightists" take place in Tokyo. At the Russian embassy in Tokyo, the “rightists” in bad Russian are chanting into a megaphone: “Down with Russian! Give it back, Russian! Die, Russian! "

On the streets of Tokyo, campaign slogans: "The day of the return of the Northern Territories - the day of peace", "The real proof of friendship is the return of territories." On the island of Hokkaido, already closer to the islands, the slogans become more specific and sharper: "Return the" Northern Territories "," We will not retreat from the "Northern Territories", "Return the occupied islands."

The Japanese built an observation deck at Cape Nossapu on the island of Hokkaido. From here, in good weather, you can see not only the Small Kuril ridge, but also the Kunashir Island. More than 400 thousand Japanese come here to see the Kuril Islands every year. “When a person really stands in this place and sees how close these islands are, sees their size, then, of course, the Japanese throughout the country are imbued with the mood so that these islands come back to us as soon as possible, and the problem is solved,” says Sugawara Hidetoshi, director Museum "Northern Territories".

Kunashir Island. Photo: TASS

In the manual, developed by Japanese politicians and sociologists, everything about the future of the Kuriles is spelled out with Japanese thoroughness. For example, after the transfer of the Kuriles to Japan, all utilities must be donated to the Japanese side. Russian citizens will be able to obtain Japanese citizenship in five years, but only after a special check. TV and radio broadcasting will be terminated. Russian diplomas of higher education are invalid ...