Handbook of Japan-Russia Relations

The history of official relations between Russia and Japan encompasses a period of a little more than one hundred and fifty years, but stretch back unofficially for at least double that amount of time. But for both Russia and Japan, these relations have never been a key element of foreign policy, indispensable or intrinsically important for their diplomatic strategy. It is also noteworthy that for most of this time Russia and Japan were enemies, rivals, competitors. For both parties the significance of bilateral relations to a large extent was determined by their geographical proximity. This geographically predestined relationship can be characterized as “distant neighbors.” At the same time, at certain historical stages, this neighborhood was not so "distant." The countries managed to establish relations in the economic sphere, while tourism, cultural, scientific and educational ties were actively developing. The complexity of the relations which developed for just over three centuries is worthy of study. This book analyzes these three centuries of Japan-Russia relations so as not to miss out any essential factors of the relationship. Table of Contents Dedication Acknowledgements Contributors Abbreviations Introduction • Kazuhiko Togo and Dmitry Streltsov Part 1: War and Peace: Diplomatic Relations and Security 1 Russo-Japanese Relations: The Past and the Present • Alexander N. Panov 2 Japan-Russia Diplomatic Relations from the Russo-Japanese War to the Treaty of San Francisco • Kazuhiko Togo 3 Post-Cold War Security Issues in Russia-Japan Relations: The Russian Perspective • Anna Kireeva 4 Japan-Russia Relations and Security: The Japanese Perspective • Yu Koizumi Part 2: Territory 5 The Territorial Dispute: The Russian Perspective • Dmitry Streltsov 6 The Japanese View of Northern Territorial Questions, or NTQ • Nobuo Shimotomai Part 3: The Economy and Energy 7 Russia-Japan Trade and Economic Relations: The Russian Perspective • †Pavel A. Minakir, Marina G. Mazitova 8 Japan-Russia Trade and Economic Relations: The Japanese Perspective • Shinichiro Tabata 9 Energy and Other Natural Resources in Russia-Japan Relations: The Russian Perspective • Elena Shadrina 10 Energy and Other Natural Resources in Japan–Russia Relations: The Japanese Perspective • Kenji Horiuchi Part 4: Disaster Cooperation 11 Natural Disasters and Environmental Issues in Russia-Japan Relations: The Russian Perspective • Vladimir V. Nelidov 12 The Possibility of Japan-Russia Joint Response to Disasters in Sakhalin and Its Surrounding Areas • Ryo Omatsu (translated by Akaha Tsuneo) Part 5: Culture 13 Cultural Interactions between Russia and Japan: The Russian Perspective • Vassili Molodiakov 14 Cultural Interactions between Japan and Russia: The Japanese Perspective • Takayuki Yokota-Murakami Part 6: Perceptions of the Other 15 Russian Perceptions of Japan • Leonid Smorgunov and Olga Ignatjeva 16 Japan’s Perceptions of Russia • Alexander Bukh 17 The Troublemaker? Russian Perceptions of the Role of the United States in Russia-Japan Relations • James D.J. Brown 18 The Role of the United States in the Peace Treaty Negotiations • Kazuhiko Togo 19 The Role of China in Russia-Japan Relations: The Russian Perspective • Natasha Kuhrt 20 The Role of China in Japan-Russia Relations: The Japanese Perspective • Hiroshi Yamazoe Appendix 1: 1956 Joint Declaration Appendix 2: Tokyo Declaration (1993) Appendix 3: Moscow Declaration (1998) Appendix 4: Irkutsk Statement (2001) Appendix 5: Foreign Ministry Statement (2022) Index