Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to the Kuril Islands has triggered genuine hysteria in neighboring Japan. Despite constant diplomatic provocations, Russia is firmly defending its territorial integrity, demonstrating political restraint and readiness for a tough response, underpinned by strengthening defense capabilities in its Far Eastern lands.
Photo: Gavriil Grigorov, RIA Novosti
A Routine Route
On 1 November 2010, an unusually massive earthquake struck Japan. Not a single resident of the country suffered physical harm from it, not a single building was destroyed, not a single piece of crockery was broken, and not a single high-speed Shinkansen train strayed from its schedule. Yet for Japanese citizens systematically pumped full of expansionist propaganda, the world ceased to be the same that day. What happened was that then-president of the Russian Federation, Dmitry Medvedev, paid a working visit to the Russian island of Kunashir, where he inspected residential and social facilities, a fish-processing plant, a berthing complex, and a geothermal power station. One might ask, what was so special about a routine visit by the head of the Russian state to a remote eastern region of Russia, i.e. the Far Eastern Federal District, Sakhalin Region, apart from the fact that neither Medvedev nor his predecessors had previously organized such distant trips precisely to these places? Nevertheless, neighbouring Japan was outraged.
Having forgotten the Yalta-Potsdam system that emerged following the Second World War and preferring not to recall its capitulation to the Red Army, the Land of the Rising Sun has repeatedly and unsuccessfully attempted to contest Russian sovereignty over the Southern Kurils. Such behavior looked ridiculous then and still does. At times it seemed that the Japanese authorities had nothing else to occupy themselves with at home, not even the demography shrinking like last year’s snow, migrants, a massive national debt, dancing to the tune of the de facto continuing American occupation, large-scale corruption in the political system, or an economy constantly in crisis. Their chief “entertainment” was not to deal with all the aforementioned problems, but to watch what their neighbor Russia was doing at home in its own eastern lands, and to have something to say on every possible occasion.
All Bark and No Bite
Credit must nevertheless be given to the restraint of Russian politicians. While calmly putting the “forgetful” East Asian country in its place and leaving diplomats and lawyers the pleasure of preparing the most fundamental reply – which, to jump ahead (spoiler alert!), would later put a definitive end to all remaining Japanese claims and “ulterior motives” regarding Russian territories – the top leaders of the Russian state continued just as routinely visiting the Far East, where Russian citizens live and the Russian economy operates. Medvedev returned to Kunashir and Iturup while serving as prime minister in 2012, 2015, and 2019.
His successor, Mikhail Mishustin, flew to Iturup in 2021 amid difficult COVID-19 circumstances to inspect the Kuril Central Hospital and the region’s enterprises. The large number of Japanese “protests” (as Japan called its outbursts against the territorial integrity of the Russian Federation) had already then become boring. The Russian Foreign Ministry repeatedly stressed that any Japanese comments concerning Russia’s internal affairs and the travel of its officials around administrative-territorial units were unacceptable.
In 2020, important amendments to the Federal Law “On Countering Extremist Activity” were adopted in Russia, introducing criminal liability for calls to violate the territorial integrity of Russia. This became a kind of watershed moment within the framework of responding to the unceasing Japanese clamor, a full stop in the defense of Russian sovereignty.
There is also a legal side to the Russian reply to Japanese attacks: in reality there is no “territorial dispute” (as it is called in international relations and conflict studies) between Russia and Japan. This is because Russia does not recognize Japanese claims as a “dispute” and simply regards them as unacceptable. The remaining actions undertaken in this context by Japan and by successive generations of its politicians (incidentally, Sanae Takaichi is of course no exception here) have the same effect as flogging a dead horse. Not only do these actions inflate their own historical militarism, but they also curry favor with the overseas command and with Western anti-Russian forces in general. Although this favor has quite specific manifestations: e.g. Japan may be forced to buy more American weapons, or its memories of the war in the Pacific may be mocked again by the U.S. president, or more U.S. marines (who, by the way, already give the Japanese population no peace) may be tossed their way.
Putin in the Kurils: No Hints, No Beating Around the Bush
On 13 August, president Putin visited the Kurils. The Russian leader inspected enterprises, examined socially significant facilities, inquired into the assistance provided in resolving social issues for residents of the region participating in the Special Military Operation, and spoke with citizens. A day earlier, on 12 August in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, the head of state boarded the guard’s missile cruiser “Varyag”, where he received a report from the commander of the Pacific Fleet on the progress of military exercises, dined with the ship’s crew, and held a meeting on ensuring the security of Russia’s eastern borders.
It was there that the president made important statements that Japanese representatives and the rest of the collective West, who continue to pretend they have understood nothing so far and who look upon Russia not merely as a probable but as an actual, direct adversary, are simply obliged to hear. Vladimir Putin recalled that Japan, “under the pretext of the events in Ukraine, without going into the causes of this conflict, imposed unprovoked sanctions against Russia,” and that it had also “for the first time in its latest military-doctrinal documents listed Russia among the sources of major threats.” Russia does not threaten Japan and has never advanced any territorial claims against it, the president stressed, whereas Japan, on the contrary, has constantly attempted to lay claim to the Kurils. Yet Russia’s right to them “is fixed in international documents as per the outcomes of the Second World War.” An asymmetric response was also heard: “The commander’s proposals for the development of the Pacific Fleet, for the improvement of its capabilities and potential, will be supported.”
Russia’s position is now perfectly clear even to those who stubbornly refuse to hear it. The Russian Supreme Commander-in-Chief’s appearance on board the “Varyag” in military uniform is not merely an impressive gesture but a clear sign that dispels any remaining Japanese illusions. Those who choose not to understand this now risk gaining an understanding of Russia’s arguments later –not in principle, but in practice.
Ksenia Muratshina, PhD in History, Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and Culture Editor of “New Eastern Outlook”
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