RUSSIA - JAPAN ISLAND DISPUTE - KURIL ISLANDS

BACKGROUND

The Term 'Kuril Islands' refers to a 1300 kilometer long archipelago (extensive group of islands) stretching from Hokkaido Japan and Kamchatka Russia is separating OKHOSTK SEA from the NORTH PACIFIC OCEAN.

This is a 'KURIL ISLAND' Chain .

 

The 50 years old Kuril Island dispute between Russia and Japan is mainly on four islands viz. Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan and Habomai rocks, which are in possession of Russia and claimed by Japan.

These four islands which Russia called the Southern Kurils and Japan calls the Northern territories are the subject of a old dispute between the two nations. 

Peace Treaty was not signed between Russia & Japan from many years. It does not mean both countries in a war.

HOW THIS DISPUTE STARTED

In 1855 Russia & Japan signed a 'Treaty of Shimoda', which gave Japan ownership of the four southern islands.and Russia ownership of everything to the north.

By the time of the World War II 17,000 Japanese residents were residing on three out of the four islands.

At the end of the Second World War (In which Japan Lose the war) , Russia took the control of the islands and by 1949 deported all the residents back to Japan.

The San Francisco Peace Conference after WWII (Word War II) resulted in the San Francisco Peace treaty in 1951. The treaty was signed between the Allies and Japan. As per the treaty, Japan agreed to renounce (abandon) all the title, right and claim to the Kuril Islands. 

Due to this, Russia claimed that after losing Word WAR II - Japan Signed the 'Treaty of San Francisco' and agree to surrender the Kuril Islands.

But this treaty could do nothing on the ground as Russia did not sign the treaty.

And That's why JAPAN also legally claimed as Russia did not sign that treaty these islands not belong to Russia. And Those belongs to Japan. That's why this is very complicated issue and Both countries trying to sort this.

The islands are under the effective control of Russia since 1945. 

EFFORTS TO SORT THIS DISPUTE

In 1956, diplomatic ties got restored between Japan and Russia by Japan-Soviet Joint Declaration. 

During that time, Russia offered to give away the two islands closest to Japan. But the offer was rejected by Japan as the two islands constituted only 7% of the land in question.

The most serious attempts in settling the question was made in the years 1998 and 2001. But both the attempts were failures. Since then the dispute remains unresolved and flares up periodically.

WHY RUSSIA WANTS THESE ISLANDS - THOUGH IT'S A WORD LARGEST COUNTRY.

All due to Importance of these KURILS ISLANDS.

1. The Kurils are the gateway to the sea of Okhotsk, which lies off the coast of Russia’s Far East.
2. Control of the islands has been crucial for Russia, which has given it access to the Pacific Ocean.
3. Russia has already built a military base on Shikotan Island, while also placing border forces on the four islands.
4. Besides, military importance, the islands possess vast mineral wealth, of about 160 million tonnes of natural gas and 1900 tonnes of gold and other valuable metals like silver, titanium, sulphur and rhenium. The total value of the four islands has been estimated to 50 billion US dollars.
5. The islands are surrounded by rich fishing grounds.

In July 2018  Again Vladamir Putin - suggested to make these areas VISA-FREE ZONE. Hokkaido-Sakhalin visa-free zone plan would ease Russia-Japan tension.

If the joint projects are to go ahead, there must be a mechanism that enables Japanese to easily visit the islands. This cannot require a visa, which would acknowledge Russian sovereignty. Moscow's proposal is therefore to create a broader visa-free zone that would enable residents of Hokkaido and Sakhalin to travel to the neighboring region for a fixed period.

Improving relations with Russia has been a priority of Abe's (Shinzō Abe - JAPAN Prime minister) foreign policy. He has long wanted to resolve the countries' long-standing differences

For more info. you can access below links: 

https://asia.nikkei.com/Opinion/Hokkaido-Sakhalin-visa-free-zone-plan-would-ease-Russia-Japan-tension

https://www.gktoday.in/academy/article/kuril-island-dispute/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuril_Islands_dispute

Above Information is as per as per data available in news till the date when I am posting this.