What is the Northern Territories?
The northern territories are the four northern island formations, which consist of the Habomai islands, as well as the islands of Shikotan, Kunashir and Iturup. Habomai is a collection of small islands and rock islands. The closest of them to the island of Hokkaido, Kaigara Island (Signal Island) is located only 3.7 km from Cape Nosappu near the city of Nemuro, as they say, at an “arm’s length” distance, and Kunashir Island is simply visible to the naked eye from the Shiretoko Peninsula and from the shore of Nemuro Bay, located on the island of Hokkaido.
“Northern Territories” is a term that was introduced into use at the end of the Second World War by the Japanese side, which put forward a demand for Russia to return these four northern island formations, which are the ancestral territories of Japan.
That is why the Russian side for a long time put this phrase in quotation marks or prefixed it with the definition “so-called.”
The chain of islands south of Kamchatka to the mentioned Northern Territories is called the Tishima Islands (Kuril Islands) - in English “Kuril Islands”.
The given name “Northern Territories”, their definition and limits are not only a matter of word usage or a geographical term, but have an extremely important political meaning. This is explained by the fact that in relations between Japan and Russia there was no general definition of the boundaries of the Kuril Islands, and this circumstance complicates the discussion on the territorial conflict between Japan and Russia and its resolution on a common basis.
When the Soviet Army carried out the illegal occupation at the end of August - beginning of September 1945, about 17 thousand Japanese lived on the islands of Habomai, Shikotan, Kunashir and Iturup. Three years later, every single one of them was forcibly deported to the Japanese metropolis. After I. Stalin forcibly included these territories into the Soviet Union Russians and other citizens of the USSR, attracted by more favorable working conditions, voluntarily or forcibly moved to the mentioned islands. Following the 1953 tsunami caused by an offshore earthquake in the Tokachi area, there was no longer a permanent population on the Habomai Islands.
Furukamappu (Yuzhno-Kurilsk), which is the center of Kunashir Island, where the administration of the Yuzhno-Kurilsky district of the Sakhalin region is located, during the period of Japanese rule was a village stretching along the sea coast. After the tsunami, this village and many public utilities were rebuilt at a level approximately 30 m higher than the previous one and were called the “new area”. After the 1994 earthquake in the open sea east of Hokkaido caused enormous damage to new buildings, residential and other buildings were again built on a new site.
In 1978–1979, after the conclusion of the Sino-Japanese Peace and Friendship Treaty, Soviet troops of up to one division were again stationed on the islands of Habomai, Shikotan, Kunashir and Iturup. True, after the Soviet Union ceased to exist in 1991, the number Russian troops has declined and is now likely to number less than 3,000, with a civilian population of about 16,000.
Where are the Northern Territories?
The islands of Habomai and Shikotan, which are part of the Northern Territories, stretch in a chain to the northeast from Cape Nosappu of the Nemuro Peninsula, located on the eastern edge of the island of Hokkaido, forming a continuation of this cape. Kunashir Island is wedged between the Nemuro Peninsula and the Shiretoko Peninsula, which seem to embrace it on both sides, and Iturup Island stretches northeast of this island and is located at the southern tip of the island arc, which extends in the ocean north to the Russian-owned Kamchatka Peninsula.
The closest group of islands to Hokkaido, Habomai, which is very close to Japan, is located at arm's length from this island. As for the distance from Cape Nosappu to the Habomai Islands, it is 3.7 km to Kaigara Island (Signalny Island). The lighthouse, built here by the Japanese in 1936, is currently used for safe navigation through the Goyomai (Soviet) Strait, which has long been considered dangerous for ships due to the high speed of the sea current passing here. This island is abundant in high-quality seaweed, and therefore a non-governmental agreement was concluded between Japan and Russia (Soviet Union) to harvest it, thanks to which Japanese fishing vessels approach this island and fish for seaweed within a specified time frame.
From Cape Nosappu to Suisho Island (Tanfilyeva Island) 7 km, to Akiyuri Island (Anuchina Island) 13.7 km, to Yuri Island (Yuri Island) 16.7 km, to Shibotsu Island (Green Island) 25.6 km, and to Shikotan Island 73.3 km.
In clear weather, Habomai Island and Kunashir Island can be seen from Cape Nosappu with the naked eye. And from the coast of Hokkaido, from the Nemuro Peninsula to the Shiretoko Peninsula, Kunashir Island is visible. From the tip of the Notsuke Peninsula, located almost in the center of Nemuro Bay, to Cape Keramuy (Cape Veslovsky), which is located in the southernmost part of Kunashir Island, is only 16 km.
From the port of Nemuro to the administrative center of Kunashir Island, Furukamappu (Yuzhno-Kurilsk), can be reached by steamship traveling at a speed of 11 knots per hour in just four hours. From Moscow to Khabarovsk the plane flies for about nine hours, from Khabarovsk to Sakhalin - less than two hours, and from Sakhalin passengers travel by sea or air to the islands of Habomai, Shikotan, Kunashir and Iturup. Russian citizens who come to the Japanese metropolis on a “visa-free exchange” say that it is terribly far from the islands to Moscow, and the time difference is seven hours. And despite the fact that from these islands to Nemuro is “a stone’s throw”, the time difference is one hour (in summer - two hours).
What is the area of the Northern Territories?
total area islands of Habomai, Shikotan, Kunashir and Iturup 5036 sq. km. This is only 0.029% of the entire territory of Russia.
The area of Lake Baikal is 31.5 thousand square meters. km. This is 315 times larger than the area of the Habomai Islands (100 sq. km), 124 times more area Shikotan Island (253 sq. km), 21 times larger than Kunashir Island (1499 sq. km) and 9.9 times larger than Iturup Island (3184 sq. km). And the area of all the islands that form the Northern Territories (5036 sq. km) is no more than 100/625 of the area of Lake Baikal.
What is the Northern Territory?
The northern coast of the islands of Habomai, Shikotan, Kunashir and Iturup faces the Sea of Okhotsk, and the southern coast faces the Pacific Ocean. Under the influence of the maritime climate in the winter season, the average temperature drops to 4.5 degrees below zero. This is warmer than in the Kushiro area. From time to time the temperature occasionally drops to 10 degrees below zero. There is relatively little snow here in winter - on the plains there is an average of 0.5 m. From the beginning to the height of summer, due to the interaction of warm and cold currents, dense fogs specific to these places reign on the islands. There are few sunny days. The average temperature is approximately 16 degrees Celsius. If the fog clears, then on some days the temperature exceeds 28 degrees. From the end of summer, the fogs stop and good pleasant weather sets in, which is no different from the weather in the eastern regions of Hokkaido.
The landscapes inside the islands have their own characteristics. On the islands of Kunashir and Iturup, under the influence of the Kuril volcanic zone, volcanoes of varying sizes stretch; nature rewarded them with countless rivers, lakes and marshy meadows; On the islands, hot springs come out of the ground.
The Habomai Islands consist of seven islands, each of them has a small number of hills and lowlands, and their topography is flat. In this they are similar to the Nemuro Peninsula.
Shikotan Island generally has sloping relief lines. Dark green groves, contrasting with yellow meadows and low-growing bamboo, create a unique atmosphere. The island is home to valuable wild alpine plants that can only be seen here. Numerous large and small bays and small islands off the coast of the Sea of Okhotsk are home to valuable seabirds.
On Kunashir Island rises Tyatya Peak (the most high mountain in the Northern Territories) with a height of 1822 m, its shape reminiscent of Fuji. There are many lakes, swamps, lowlands and rivers. There are also large waterfalls. Most of the forests consist of coniferous species - Sakhalin fir and Japanese spruce; barred owls and brown bears live here. On the coast of the Sea of Okhotsk, facing the opposite Cape Shiretoko, cliffs rise like tree trunks, veined with rocks that were formed as a result of magma flows erupting from volcanoes.
Iturup Island consists entirely of active and temporarily extinct volcanoes. In its eastern part, the coastline drops steeply down in many places, and rivers flow into the sea, forming waterfalls. There is evidence that sea beavers live in the waters off the eastern part of this island. In the western part of this island, the earth's surface has gentle slopes, and its shores form a bay in which large ships can anchor.
The islands of Habomai, Shikotan, Kunashir and Iturup represent
They are a treasure trove of nature. There is evidence that there are 50 barred owls on Kunashir Island, 2,650 sea beavers on Iturup Island, 825 species of alpine plants on all the mentioned islands, etc. Efforts are being made to study and conserve other animals and plants.
Nature has endowed these islands with water resources. Agricultural crops, such as vegetables, can be grown here in sufficient quantities. The waters around the Northern Territories, under the influence of mixing warm and cold currents, abound in seafood, starting with crabs, salmon and seaweed.
Who currently lives in the Northern Territories and how does their population live?
Currently, citizens of the Russian state live on the islands of Habomai, Shikotan, Kunashir and Iturup.
At one time, 6.5 thousand Japanese lived on the Habomai Islands. Now, apart from border guards, there is no permanent population on these islands.
Ordinary families live on the other three islands Russian citizens. After the forced evacuation of the Japanese in 1947–1948, there was a shortage of technicians and specialists on these islands, and soviet people who lived here experienced difficulties. Since the 1960s, authorities have recruited technicians and workers, paying high wages and resorting to granting privileges unheard of in other parts of the former Soviet Union, such as increased pensions and especially long vacations. Using such methods, the authorities purposefully sent seafood processing specialists to these islands and organized production and export at the state fish canning plant. finished products. Since the mid-1980s, this work order was no longer strictly observed, free arrival and departure of labor became possible, and entrepreneurs began to move to these islands.
We can say that there is almost no infrastructure here. And after the collapse of the Soviet Union, due to the fact that seafood processing factories began to lack raw materials, workers were no longer paid wages, prices rose and various other problems arose, the Russian population of the islands faced very serious difficulties. A strong earthquake that occurred in October 1994 in the open sea off the island of Shikotan (in Japanese - “earthquake east of Hokkaido”) and a tsunami completely destroyed the life of the island population. As a result, many seafood processing plants, schools, and kindergartens were destroyed either completely or half-destroyed. Because of Money There wasn’t even enough money to dismantle and demolish the damaged buildings; people were given emergency rooms to live in, and the destroyed buildings were left in their previous condition. Seafood processing plants operating with downtime due to difficulties in financing them found themselves on the verge of bankruptcy. Some families who had acquaintances on the mainland began to move in with them. There are families left on the islands who have nowhere to go to the mainland. They barely support their existence from their garden plots, growing vegetables on them. Needless to say, their living conditions are very difficult.
Since the mid-1990s, Russian military units began to quickly withdraw from the islands. Despite this, the military and their families, due to the fact that if they moved to the mainland, they could not be provided with work and housing there, after demobilization they were often forced to remain on the islands and lead an independent lifestyle. In the period before the 1994 earthquake, 25.4 thousand Russian citizens lived on the islands of Habomai, Shikotan, Kunashir and Iturup, but by July 1998 their number had decreased to 16.14 thousand people (on Shikotan - 2, 45 thousand people, in Kunashir - 5.5 thousand people and in Iturup - 8.19 thousand people).
According to the political and administrative division of Russia, the islands of Habomai, Shikotan and Kunashir are included in the South Kuril region, and the island of Iturup is in the Kuril region. An administration is appointed to manage each district [in the Yuzhno-Kurilsky region it is located in Furukamappu (Yuzhno-Kurilsk), in the Kurilsky region - in Syana (Kurilsk)].
The main production on these islands is the processing of seafood products. IN last years Personally owned fishing vessels and fishermen fishing on their own also appeared. To communicate with the islands, residents use regular flights of ships that sail from Sakhalin and ply between the islands, as well as flights of airplanes flying from Sakhalin (only to the islands of Kunashir and Iturup). As for port equipment, it can be seen that it is completely absent. Boats are used to land on shore. Outdated ships are abandoned in the ports, and the ports themselves are polluted with sewage.
Despite the fact that based on Federal Program social and economic development of the Kuril Islands for 1993–1995 and until 2000, preparatory work was carried out for the construction of a main road through all these islands and work is underway to replace the beams of bridges across the rivers; on the islands there are still (with the exception of part of Kunashir Island) highways there are no roads, and on the island of Shikotan such construction work has not begun at all.
There are libraries in Kunashir and Iturup, and newspapers are published. In terms of medical care, medicines and medical equipment are in short supply and residents cannot receive adequate treatment. Many of them are specially sent to Sakhalin and the Russian mainland for treatment. The Japanese government, providing emergency humanitarian assistance, built outpatient clinics on Shikotan and Iturup, donated ultrasonic medical devices on Kunashir, and also provided free medicines and ambulances on these three islands.
In addition to this, the Japanese government also began supplying fuel as an emergency humanitarian aid during the winter season. As a gift to schoolchildren on the island of Shikotan, which suffered the most from the earthquake, a Primary School. And on Kunashir a pier has been built where boats and small vessels are anchored. Technical guidance is provided in the field of agriculture and marine fisheries. In 1999, Japan also provided assistance to Kunashir by building a shelter in case emergency situations, and installed electric generators and other equipment on all other islands.
IN Lately On the island of Iturup, where the largest Russian population lives among all the South Kuril islands, the enterprises of the Gidrostroy company, which is mainly engaged in the processing of seafood products, began to develop successfully. More than half the island's population works for this company and related enterprises. In July 1999 this company I decided to establish my own enterprise on the island of Shikotan during this year.
On the island of Kunashir (though in very small quantities) sausages and beer are produced, and on the island of Iturup a school acquired in America is being built, which is a model of cleanliness.
As for the island of Shikotan, there was a time when the seafood processing industry, mainly crabs, developed here. One third of the canned crabs of the entire Soviet Union were produced here. But at present, due to poaching, depletion of fishing resources, damage from earthquakes, insufficient material supplies, etc. The seafood plant is almost non-functional. The island's inhabitants inevitably face daily difficulties. The situation worsened especially in the first half of 1999, when fuel supplies stopped and electricity supplies almost ceased.
Buildings built on these islands during the Japanese period, such as a post office and a seafood cooperative, have survived only in small numbers on the island of Iturup in Syana (Kurilsk).
What is a “visa-free exchange”?
In April 1991, President of the USSR M.S. Gorbachev arrived on a visit to Japan. This was the first visit to Japan by a top leader of a neighboring state in the entire history of Japanese-Russian and Japanese-Soviet relations. The Joint Japanese-Soviet Statement, signed by him during this visit with the then Prime Minister of Japan Toshiki Kaifu, contained an agreement on visits by Russian citizens living on these islands to the Japanese metropolis and the Japanese islands of Habomai, Shikotan, Kunashir and Iturup without passports and visas . These visits were carried out at the suggestion of the Soviet Union. In November of the same year, the agreement on this was concretized in letters exchanged by the foreign ministers of both countries. Mutual visits began in May 1992. Until June 1999 inclusive, about 2.8 people from each side took turns making such mutual trips on both sides, which greatly contributed to strengthening mutual understanding and friendship.
Russian citizens from the Northern Territories who visited Japan visited the regions of Northern Japan - Hokkaido, Akita and Mi-yagi, Central Japan - Gunma, Tokyo and Yokohama, as well as the regions of Western Japan - Ishikawa, Wakayama, Hyogo and Hiroshima, and got acquainted with the schools there , factories, historical landmarks, and other objects and took part in conversations with the local population. And the Japanese, who visited the northern islands (actually three of them, since there is no population on the Habomai Islands), also got acquainted with kindergartens, schools, seafood processing plants and other facilities there and, having visited families, established connections with them .
Since 1997, Russian citizens living in the Northern Territories and employed in agriculture and fisheries, began implementing advanced training programs on the island of Hokkaido, lasting several days. In addition, despite the short duration of their stay, Japanese volunteers from the national detachment of the Youth Foreign Cooperation Corps gave Japanese language lessons on the island. These lessons, conducted in accordance with the persistent wishes of the Russian residents on the island of Kunashir, were further expanded from the summer of 1999 and were held for three weeks on three islands - Shikotan, Kunashir and Iturup by students of Tokyo Women's University and the forces of the said organization, which allocated for this is two people and two more assistants. One of the results of the visit to Moscow by Japanese Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi in September 1998 was the decision (in addition to the “visa-free exchange”) for free visits to the Northern Territories by Japanese former residents of the islands of Habomai, Shikotan, Kunashir and Iturup.
Russian citizens living in the Northern Territories would have to oppose the return of the four island entities to Japan...
In fact, the opposite is true. According to the results of a public opinion poll among residents of the Northern Territories, which the NHK radio and television corporation commissioned to conduct by the All-Russian Central Institute of Public Opinion in September 1998, based on a sample survey of 1000 people from three islands - Kunashir, Iturup and Shikotan, consent to the return of the Northern Territories to Japan territories without any conditions or on certain conditions was answered by 44% of respondents, and 42% of respondents were against it (information on television of the NHK corporation on November 5, 1998).
In addition, according to a survey by the Kyodo Tsushin news agency, which was conducted on the islands of Iturup and Shikotan among 100 local residents, 65% of residents of the island of Shikotan agreed to the return of the Northern Territories to Japan, and 87% of residents of the island of Iturup opposed their return to Japan (the agency “Kyodo Tsushin” dated September 20, 1998).
And in a survey of 404 residents of three islands - Shikotan, Kunashir and Iturup, the ratio between supporters and opponents of the return of Japan to the Northern Territories was 73% to 20.3% (Yomiuri newspaper, July 17, 1993).
There are also data published by the Russian side. According to a survey of 100 Russian experts on Japan from among government members, parliamentarians and scientists, which was conducted by the International Sociological Center in Moscow in January 1996, 45% of respondents were in favor of the return of the Northern Territories of Japan, 20% were against ( newspaper “Mainichi Shimbun” dated December 2, 1996).
There is no doubt that with such a wide range of survey results, they cannot necessarily be relied upon. However, during confidential conversations during “visa-free exchanges”, the overwhelming majority of Russian residents of the above-mentioned islands agree to the return of the Northern Territories to Japan. Moreover, many of them even resolutely stated: “The sooner these islands are returned to Japan, the better.”
In the Izvestia newspaper on February 17, 1998, in a report from the Northern Territories, a message was published that a situation had arisen in which the Northern Territories were rapidly being absorbed into the Japanese economic zone. At the same time, it was indicated that the majority of residents of the South Kuril Islands share a realistic opinion, which is “the absence of objections to their return to Japan.”
In 1946, ordinary Soviet citizens began to move to the Northern Territories for the first time. At first, for just two years, the situation remained in which the Japanese population lived together with the population from the Soviet Union, including in houses owned by the Japanese. Later, all Japanese were forcibly expelled from these islands. There are now very few Russian families who have continued to live here since that time; almost all of the migrants are those who came to the islands starting in the 1950s.
Since 1992, “visa-free exchange” began between the Japanese and modern residents of the Northern Territories.
The majority of the Russian population only after establishing direct contacts with the former Japanese inhabitants of these islands learned about the historical facts related to the separation of the Northern Territories from Japan by the Soviet Union after the Second World War and the expulsion of their Japanese population from the above-mentioned islands.
It is of deep interest that, in comparison with the predominance of votes of ordinary Russian residents of the Northern Territories in favor of their return to Japan, local leaders from the executive authorities and the parliamentary corps for the most part speak out against the return of the mentioned islands to Japan.
If you listen carefully to the voices of the Russian residents of the Northern Territories, it becomes clear that people have extremely serious concerns about how they will feel after the return of the above-mentioned islands to Japan.
In this sense, what sympathizes with them most are the former Japanese residents of these islands, who were previously expelled to the metropolis. The Northern Territories Development Plan (1991), prepared by a research organization consisting mainly of former residents of the islands, put forward the basic principle: in returning the Northern Territories to Japan, the modern Russian residents of these islands should not endure the severe pain of employment, similar topics, which the former Japanese residents of the mentioned territories themselves experienced at one time, and therefore they must be given the opportunity to live together with the Japanese.
In addition, the non-governmental project “Issues related to the return of the Northern Territories”, published in March 1999, was based on the premise of cohabitation of the Japanese and Russian populations (see question 79). The Japanese government has stated that when resolving the issue of the Northern Territories, the tendency will remain to fully respect the rights, interests, and aspirations of Russian citizens who currently live on the islands of Habomai, Shikotan, Kunashir and Iturup.
The concerns of the indigenous Russian inhabitants of the named islands should disappear without a trace thanks to the above measures. A considerable number of Russian residents openly declare: “The Russian government and the administration of the Sakhalin region are not giving us anything. This is nothing more than a policy in which they leave us to our fate.” That is why the degree of dependence of the lives of the Russian inhabitants of these islands on Japan is becoming more and more noticeable.
Isn't the Japanese government trying to achieve, through promises to the modern Russian population of the Northern Territories, the consent of this population for their return to Japan?
The Russian government has not yet officially come out in favor of the return of the Northern Territories to Japan. Therefore, the Japanese government, for its part, adheres to the following position: it cannot officially promise that in the event of the return of the Northern Territories to Japan, it will provide the Russian population currently living in these territories with protection of various living conditions, including the rights they have and interests that could be guaranteed to him from the Japanese side.
What, despite this, will life be like for the Russian population of the above-mentioned islands after the return of the northern islands to Japan? This is a relevant and important question. Therefore, non-governmental research groups consisting of Japanese scientists, experts, former diplomats, former residents of the Northern Territories and others also believe that after the return of the above-mentioned islands to Japan, the rights and interests that the current Russians already have should be sufficiently protected. residents of these territories (see questions 78–81). Apparently, it would not be a mistake to consider this fact as a reflection of the sentiments of the Japanese government, as well as the majority of the Japanese people.
The Russian population that currently lives in the Northern Territories is divided into two large groups - those who, after the return of the Northern Territories to Japan, would like to remain in their previous place of residence, and those who, having left their previous place of residence, would like to move to Sakhalin or to the metropolis. Since existing legislation does not allow dual citizenship, persons who remain in Japan, after several years of their stay in this country, will likely be faced with a choice - either to retain Russian citizenship or to acquire a new, Japanese citizenship. However, if we exclude this point, the current Russian population of the above-mentioned islands will probably not, after the return of the Northern Territories of Japan, experience greater difficulties than they currently experience in the economic and social areas of life. Persons who wish to remain on these islands will maintain their current employment and their standard of living will be generally consistent with that of Japan.
As for persons who, after Japan's return of the Northern Territories, wish to resettle from these islands to mainland Russia, non-governmental research groups suggest that the Japanese government should pay them the funds necessary for resettlement from the very beginning, if this resettlement is accompanied by a change in place of residence, work and etc., although these expenses would have to be borne by the Russian government.
Dishonest people and the mafia who expect large gains or profits as a result of the change in sovereignty over the Northern Territories are likely to be disappointed, given no chance to adapt to this situation. With the exception of such persons, the current serious Russian residents of the above-mentioned islands expect to receive decent compensation (to the extent that they think rationally in such cases). These conditions must be taken into account so that a situation does not arise where someone would receive an excessively high income, and someone would be left high and dry as a result of the conscientious implementation of the agreement between the governments of Japan and Russia. And such scrupulous concern for the fate of the settlers is probably characteristic of the Japanese.
The northern territories - the islands of Habomai, Shikotan, Kunashir and Iturup - are Russian territory because Russia has effectively controlled these islands for more than 50 years.
In the event that any countries do not make claims against the fact that any state controls the territories of another country, then the latter’s right to these territories could be recognized as legitimate. However, regarding the illegal occupation of the Northern Territories, consistently objecting to it, the Japanese side continues to demand the return of these territories to Japan.
In conflicts over the right to own territory, wars have long been and often resorted to to resolve the dispute. Wars to conquer territories were fought until the Second World War. However, after the Second World War, a rule was established: “it is unacceptable to expand the territory of a state through wars” (the principle of non-expansion of territory).
Citizens of Russia (Soviet Union) first moved to the Northern Territories after the end of the Second World War. From time to time you hear the following statement: “Russian citizens live on these islands, develop them, there are graves of three generations of their ancestors.” However, before Russian citizens came to the Northern Territories in 1946, only Japanese lived on these islands. There was not a single Russian there. The Japanese lived on these islands for five or six generations and continued to develop them. During the reign of I. Stalin, the Soviet Union expelled these Japanese from there, and this mistake remains uncorrected to this day.
Russians first appeared on the Kuril Islands in the 17th century, but even earlier there were Dutch and, naturally, Japanese on the islands. Under Peter the Great at the beginning of the 18th century, Russia laid claim to these islands and began to take tribute from the Ainu, the local inhabitants. Japan also considered these islands its own and also tried to take tribute from the Ainu. In 1855, the first treaty on the border between Russia and Japan was concluded (Shimoda Treaty). According to this treaty, the islands of Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan and Habomai went to Japan, and the rest of the Kuril Islands to Russia.
In 1875, according to the Treaty of St. Petersburg, the Kuril Islands were completely included in Japan. In exchange for this, Japan recognizes Sakhalin Island as part of Russia (until 1875, Sakhalin was jointly owned). In 1905, after Russia’s defeat in the Russo-Japanese War, the Treaty of Portsmouth was concluded, according to which the southern part of the island of Sakhalin was ceded to Japan, the Kuril Islands were Japanese and remained Japanese, i.e. The Kuril Islands were never torn away from Russia by force.
In 1941, a Neutrality Pact was concluded between the USSR and Japan. The agreement was concluded for 5 years (from April 25, 1941 to April 25, 1946). In April 1945, the USSR announced the denunciation of the treaty with Japan, but according to paragraph 3, either party is obliged to warn the other party about the denunciation a year before the expiration of the treaty, i.e. the neutrality pact remained in force until April 1946.
On August 9, 1945, the USSR started a war with Japan, which de facto meant a violation of the neutrality treaty. The USSR explained its entry into the war with Japan by its obligations to its allies given at Yalta Conference in February 1945 in exchange for promises to transfer the Kuril Islands and South Sakhalin to the USSR. Point 3 of the Crimean Agreement contains text about the transfer of the Kuril Islands to the Soviet Union, but specific islands are not listed. Paragraph 8 of the Potsdam Declaration of the Three Powers (USA, England and China) dated July 26, 1945 reads: “ ....Japanese sovereignty will be limited to the islands of Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu, Shikoku and those smaller islands that we specify" The smaller islands were never listed later.
On August 14, Japan accepts the terms of surrender and informs the governments of the USA, England, China and the USSR. On September 2, 1945, the act of surrender was officially signed, but the act of surrender did not say anything about the ownership of the Kuril Islands.
In 1951, the Allies and Japan signed the San Francisco Peace Treaty. Japan renounces claims to the Kuril Islands. Later, the Japanese government stated that the islands of Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan and Habomai, being “originally Japanese territories,” were not included in the term “Kuril Islands” that appeared in the text of the treaty.
The treaty was preliminarily prepared by the governments of the United States and England before the start of the conference. The treaty says nothing about the sovereignty of the USSR over the Kuril Islands. The Soviet delegation proposed to include in the treaty recognition of the sovereignty of the USSR over South Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands, but the Soviet proposals were not put up for discussion. Representatives of the USSR refused to sign the San Francisco Treaty.
During the discussion of the San Francisco Treaty in the US Senate, a resolution was adopted containing the following clause: " It is provided that the terms of the Treaty will not mean the recognition of Russia of any rights or claims to territories that belonged to Japan on December 7, 1941."
In 1956, in the Joint Declaration of the USSR and Japan, Moscow agreed to the transfer of the islands of Shikotan and Habomai to Japan after the conclusion of a peace treaty. However, the Japanese government demanded the transfer of all 4 islands, as a result the signing of the agreement did not take place.
In 2005, Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed his readiness to resolve the territorial dispute in accordance with the provisions of the Soviet-Japanese Declaration of 1956, that is, with the transfer of Habomai and Shikotan to Japan, but the Japanese side did not compromise.
Even in the Middle Ages, all wars ended with the signing of treaties between the victors and the vanquished. The Kuril Islands were included in the USSR without any agreement. The USSR formally annexed Koenigsberg, Vyborg, the Baltic states, Western Belarus, Western Ukraine and Bessarabia. The post-war borders of the USSR in Europe were recognized by the world community. The border with Japan is not legally fixed, there is no peace treaty.
In 1944, the Japanese-owned islands in the Pacific Ocean (Mariana, Caroline, Marshall Islands and the Palau archipelago) were occupied by the Americans. The UN transferred control of these islands to the United States in July 1947. The indigenous population of the islands made their choice (independence or commonwealth with the United States) independently in referendums in the 70s and 80s. In 1945, the USSR evicted the indigenous inhabitants of these islands, the Japanese and the Ainu, from the Kuril Islands, and settled them with Soviet citizens from the mainland. The UN never transferred control of the Kuril Islands to the USSR.
In the middle of the 20th century, especially in the 21st century, it is impossible to justify territorial seizures by the rights of the stronger (whoever is stronger is right). The disputed South Kuril Islands did not belong to Russia for a single day before 1945 and should be returned free of charge to their rightful owner, Japan.
In accordance with the Constitution of the Russian Federation, the islands are part of the territory of the Russian Federation, according to the administrative-territorial division of Japan - they are part of the Nemuro district of Hokkaido Prefecture of Japan.
In fact, Habomai is, firstly, the name of a village on the island of Hokkaido - the center of the county of the same name, and secondly, the unifying Japanese name for a group of small islands, derived from the former administrative division of Japan. In Russian cartography, these islands are part of the Lesser Kuril Ridge, where they are included along with the larger island of Shikotan.
[…]
Behind the seemingly foreign name Habomai, which is drummed into the national consciousness, there are about 20 islands and rocks that have their own Russian names.
Regarding the problem of border demarcation, official Tokyo, having formally abandoned the once pursued policy of “linking” the development of bilateral relations with the solution of the territorial problem, nevertheless, does not miss the opportunity to emphasize that “building a strategic partnership with Russia based on genuine trust is only possible while simultaneously moving towards resolving the terrorist issue,” of course, on the basis of the well-known Japanese position (Russia’s recognition of Japanese sovereignty over the South Kuril islands of Kunashir and Iturup, as well as the Lesser Kuril ridge - Shikotan Island and the Habomai group of islands.)
The president Russian Federation and the Prime Minister of Japan, adhering to a common understanding of the need to overcome the difficult legacy of the past in bilateral relations, held serious negotiations on the issue of ownership of the islands of Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan and Habomai. The parties agree that negotiations should continue with the aim of concluding a peace treaty as soon as possible by resolving this issue, based on historical and legal facts, and on the basis of documents developed by agreement between the two countries, as well as the principles of legality and justice, and thus completely normalize bilateral relationship.
...based on this, they agreed to accelerate further negotiations with the aim of concluding a peace treaty by resolving the issue of the ownership of the islands of Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan and Habomai and thus achieving complete normalization of bilateral relations on the basis of the Tokyo Declaration of 1993.
“Japan claims four islands in the Kuril chain - Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan and Habomai, citing the bilateral Treaty on Trade and Boundaries of 1855. Moscow’s position is that the southern Kuril Islands became part of the USSR (which Russia became its successor) following the results of the Second World War, and Russian sovereignty over them, which has the appropriate international legal framework, cannot be doubted.”
(Source: Korrespondent.net, 02/08/2011)
A little history(which was researched and published by A.M. Ivanov here - http://www.pagan.ru/lib/books/history/ist2/wojny/kurily.php)
“The 50s of the 19th century was the period of the “discovery of Japan” by the Americans and Russians. The representative of Russia was Rear Admiral E.V. Putyatin, who arrived on the frigate Pallada, who in a letter to the Japanese Supreme Council dated November 6, 1853, insisted on the need for differentiation, pointing out that Iturup belongs to Russia, since it has long been visited by Russian industrialists, who long before the Japanese created there their settlements. The border was supposed to be drawn along the La Perouse Strait."
(E.Ya. Fainberg. Russian-Japanese relations in 1697-1875, M., 1960, p. 155).
Article 2 of the “Russian-Japanese Treaty on Trade and Borders” dated January 26 (February 7), 1855, signed by the parties in the city of Shimoda states: “From now on, the borders between Russia and Japan will be between the islands Iturup and Urup. The entire island of Iturup belongs to Japan, and the entire island of Urup and the other Kuril Islands to the north are Russian possessions. As for the island of Krafto (Sakhalin), it remains undivided between Russia and Japan, as it has been until now.”(Yu.V. Klyuchnikov and A.V. Sabanin. International politics of modern times in treaties, notes and declarations. Part I. M., 1925. pp. 168-169). See picture above.
But on April 25 (May 7), 1875, the Japanese forced Russia, weakened by the Crimean War of 1953-1956, to sign an agreement in St. Petersburg, according to which:
« In return for ceding rights to Sakhalin Island to Russia... His Majesty the Emperor of All Russia... cedes to His Majesty the Emperor of Japan a group of islands called the Kuril Islands, which he owns, so that from now on the said group of Kuril Islands will belong to the Japanese Empire. This group includes the following 18 islands (the list follows), so that the border line between the Russian and Japanese empires in these waters will pass through the strait located between Cape Lopatko on the Kamchatka Peninsula and Shumshu Island.”
(Yu.V. Klyuchnikov and A.V. Sabanin. International politics of modern times in treaties, notes and declarations. Part I, M., 1925, p. 214)
To make it clear, it should be clarified that at that time the southern part of SAKHALIN island belonged to the Japanese, and the northern one - Russia (by the way, both La Perouse and Kruzenshtern considered Sakhalin a peninsula).
“On the night of August 8-9, 1945, the USSR violated its obligations under the neutrality pact and started a war against Japan, although there was no threat to Russia from Japan, and captured Manchuria, Port Arthur, South Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands islands. A landing on Hokkaido was also being prepared, but the Americans intervened, and the occupation of Hokkaido by the Red Army was not implemented.
After the war, the question of concluding a peace treaty with Japan arose. In accordance with international law, only a peace treaty brings a final line under the war, finally resolves all controversial issues between former enemies, finally resolves territorial problems, clarifies and establishes state borders. All other decisions, documents, acts are just a prelude to a peace treaty, its preparation.
In this sense, the Yalta Agreement between Stalin, Churchill and Roosevelt is not yet a final solution to the problem of the Kuril Islands and South Sakhalin, but just a “protocol of intentions” of the allies in the war, a statement of their positions and a promise to pursue a certain line in the future, when preparing a peace treaty . In any case, there is no reason to believe that the problem of the Kuril Islands had already been resolved in Yalta in 1945. It should be finally resolved only in a peace treaty with Japan. And nowhere else...
Some say that if four islands are returned to Japan, then Alaska must be returned to Russia. But what kind of return can we talk about? if Alaska was sold to the United States in 1867, the purchase and sale agreement was signed, and the money was received. Today one can only regret this, but all the talk about the return of Alaska has no basis.
Therefore, there is no reason to fear that the possible return of the four Kuril Islands to Japan will cause a chain reaction of activity in Europe.
We must also understand that this is not a revision of the results of the Second World War, because the Russian-Japanese border is not internationally recognized: the results of the war have not yet been summed up, the passage of the border has not been recorded. Today, not only the four southern Kuril Islands, but all the Kuril Islands and the southern part of Sakhalin below the 50th parallel do not legally belong to Russia. They are still occupied territory to this day. Unfortunately, the truth – historical, moral and, most importantly, legal – is not on Russia’s side.”
(Chechulin A.V., KURIL ISLANDS AND INTERNATIONAL LAW.
However, when negotiations on the normalization of Soviet-Japanese relations were held in London in 1955, the Soviet delegation agreed to include in the draft peace treaty an article on the transfer to Japan of the islands of the Lesser Kuril chain (Habomai and Shikotan), which was reflected in the joint declaration signed after the stay of Japanese Prime Minister Hatoyama in Moscow on October 13-19, 1956:
“The USSR, meeting the wishes of Japan and taking into account the interests of the Japanese state, agrees to the transfer of the Habomai Islands and the Shikotan Islands to Japan with the condition, however, that the actual transfer of these islands to Japan will take place after the conclusion of the Peace Treaty between the USSR and Japan.”
Material from Wikipedia - the free encyclopedia
Kurile Islands - a chain of islands between the Kamchatka Peninsula and the island of Hokkaido, separating the Sea of Okhotsk from the Pacific Ocean with a slightly convex arc. Length - about 1200 km. Total area - 10.5 thousand sq.km.
The islands are populated extremely unevenly. The population lives permanently only in Paramushir, Iturup, Kunashir and Shikotan. The other islands have no permanent population. At the beginning of 2010, there were 19 settlements: two cities (Severo-Kurilsk, Kurilsk), an urban-type settlement (Yuzhno-Kurilsk) and 16 villages.
The maximum population value was noted in 1989 and amounted to 29.5 thousand people (excluding conscripts).
Urup
Island of the southern group of the Great Ridge of the Kuril Islands. Administratively, it is part of the Kuril urban district of the Sakhalin region. Uninhabited.
The island stretches from northeast to southwest for 116 km. with its width up to 20 km. Area 1450 sq. km. The relief is mountainous, heights up to 1426 m (Vysokaya Mountain). Between the Vysokaya and Kosaya mountains of the Krishtofovich ridge, at an altitude of 1016 m, Lake Vysokoye is located. Waterfalls with a maximum height of up to 75 m.
Currently Urup is uninhabited. The island contains non-residential settlements of Kastricum and Kompaneiskoye.
The Frisa Strait is a strait in the Pacific Ocean that separates the island of Urup from the island of Iturup. Connects the Sea of Okhotsk and the Pacific Ocean. One of the largest straits of the Kuril ridge. The length is about 30 km. Minimum width 40 km. Maximum depth over 1300 m. The shore is steep and rocky.
(Today Japan and Russia are separated by the Soviet Strait, the length of which is about 13 km. The width is about 10 km. Maximum depth more than 50 m. See picture above)
Iturup
The island stretches from northeast to southwest for 200 km, width from 7 to 27 km. Area - 3200 sq. km. Consists of volcanic massifs and mountain ranges. The island has many volcanoes and waterfalls. Iturup is separated by the Frisa Strait from the island of Urup, located 40 km away. to the northeast; Catherine Strait - from Kunashir Island, located 22 km to the southwest.
In the central part of the island on the shores of the Kuril Bay of the Sea of Okhotsk is the city of Kurilsk, in 2010 the population was 1,666.
Rural settlements: Reidovo, Kitovoe, Rybaki, Goryachiye Klyuchi, Burevestnik, Shumi-Gorodok, Gornoe.
Non-residential settlements: Active, Slavnoe, September, Vetrovoe, Zharkie Vody, Pioneer, Iodny, Lesozavodsky, Berezovka.
Kunashir
The island stretches from northeast to southwest for 123 km, width from 7 to 30 km. Area - 1490 sq. km. The structure of Kunashir resembles neighboring Iturup and consists of three mountain ranges. The highest peak is the Tyatya volcano (1819 m) with a regular truncated cone topped by a wide crater. This beautiful high volcano is located in the northeastern part of the island. Kunashir is separated by the Catherine Strait from Iturup Island, located 22 km northeast. The rivers of Kunashir, as elsewhere in the Kuril Islands, are short and low-water. The longest river is Tyatina, which originates from the Tyatya volcano. The lakes are predominantly lagoon (Peschanoe) and caldera (Goryachee).
In the central part of the island on the shores of the South Kuril Strait is located urban settlement Yuzhno-Kurilsk - administrative center of the Yuzhno-Kurilsky urban district. In 2010, the population of the village was 6,617 residents.
Non-residential settlements: Sergeevka, Urvitovo, Dokuchaevo, Sernovodsk.
Shikotan
The island stretches from northeast to southwest for 27 km, width - 5-13 km. Area - 225 km². Maximum height - 412 m (Mount Shikotan). On the shore of the South Kuril Strait there are Malokurilskaya bays (in the northern part of the island) and Krabovaya bays (in the central part). Population is about 2100 people.
The administrative center is the village of Malokurilskoye, in 2007 the population was about 1,100.
The majority of the population is engaged in fishing and processing of fish. The village is home to a fish processing plant, established in 1999 on the basis of the production facilities of the former Fish Canning Plant No. 24, which was seriously damaged during the 1994 earthquake. The company produces canned food, mainly from saury, as well as fresh frozen fish.
Habomai
“Flat Islands” - (the Japanese name for a group of islands in the northwest Pacific Ocean, together with the island of Shikotan) - in Soviet and Russian cartography considered as the Lesser Kuril Ridge. Area - 100 sq. km.
The islands are stretched in a line parallel to the Great Kuril Ridge, 48 km south of the latter. The straits between the islands are shallow and filled with reefs and underwater rocks. Strong tidal currents and persistent dense fogs make the straits extremely dangerous for navigation. Most of the islands are low-lying, there are no forests, there are bushes and swamps.
There is no civilian population on the islands of the Habomai group - only Russian border guards.
Communication between relatives of “demobes and conscripts” from the site:
http://www.esosedi.ru/onmap/ostrov_kunashir/1426103/#lat=
Kunashir Island (extracts)
MOU from Perm #
Oksana, why did you “serve”? I don’t have an email, I only write here. My son serves in LAGUNKA (that’s what they call the village) in a mortar battery. The other day they had 2 emergency situations, one was a tragedy in Dubovoy. Today (07.11.) senior officials were there.
Angela from Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk #
My son hasn't called for 4 days. And Oksana was supposed to fly to Khabarovsk, where a medical examination of the boy’s body would be carried out.
MOU from Perm #
whose children should come home from Kunashir Island, Lagunnoye - they are waiting for dispatch, maybe until they are collected from all the islands and from Kunashir last, and in general, it is unclear with these shipments, there are both air and sea possibilities for sending - misunderstandings. To re-serve - for sure, everyone seems to be re-serving, to the “deputy” - what military unit does your son serve in, and it takes them a long time to get to the Urals, because they traveled for spring conscription for almost a month to the island, and others to other islands even longer. "ZhZhshnik" - an emergency happened at the military unit in Dubovoy, what do you know about the military personnel in this emergency?
Deputy from Nizhnyaya Salda #
they said about the emergency, the old-timers bet on it with money, and the officers tortured it, the 2nd from the company flew home with their own money. and those whose parents bought plane tickets in advance did not let them go. IDIOTS. They are waiting for a ship, waiting for some kind of commission. I called the Council of Soldiers' Mothers asking for help with leaving, but they couldn't help. I called the Committee for the Protection of Human Rights and they said send me a written statement asking then we can take some action, but not verbally. I took it and wrote to the president at Kremlin.Ru. My son called - silence.
Alfiya from Izhevsk #
I wrote it wrong: my son serves on Fr. Kunashir, Lagunnoe village since November 2009 And there is no news from him. The last time we spoke with him by phone was on November 5th. I'm very worried!
Mom from Penza #
The first batch was sent on November 20. They walked for 2 days to the port of Vanino, then a day to Khabarovsk, and there they were told that there were no tickets until December 7th. And only 2 days later they gave me tickets with five transfers to different trains. On the first two transfers we waited for the train for 1.5 days. Cold, hungry. We sent money to the children via Blitz transfer, otherwise we wouldn’t get there. I called every day until the children were sent away. Watch out, it's a mess there.
Alfiya from Izhevsk #
What island did your son serve on? Also in the village of Lagunnoye?
Today I spoke on the phone with the regiment commander
Kukartsev A.D. He assured me that in two days
They will send another batch. He couldn't give me his last name,
who exactly got into the first batch, who got into the second. He himself
(according to him) is in Khabarovsk on a business trip. Who can I clarify with: whether my son was included in the first shipment or not?
Nemuro city on the northern coast of Hokkaido (photo)
(Population: 29,676 people - 2010, 42,800 people - 2005)
The Shiretoko Peninsula (the northernmost part of Hokkaido, see picture below) is one of the most protected places in Japan. In Japan, it is considered the real end of the world and is protected by UNESCO. This is one of the last habitats of the brown bear (there are more than 600 of them here). There are a lot of deer, sea eagles and fish owls here. In winter, drifting ice floes float past the western part of the Shiretoko Peninsula - an extraordinary sight. Season is from mid-June to mid-September.
Conclusions:
“The total number of settlements in Russia is 157,895, of which more than 30,000 still do not have telephone communications, 39,000 abandoned villages and towns are located in the Central Federal District, the North-West, the Far North, Siberia and the Far East. Over the past 20 years, 11,000 villages and 290 small towns have disappeared from the map of Russia, and in the north of the country the population has decreased by 40%.
Up to 60% of Russia's food needs are covered by imports.
The total population of Russia, according to the latest information, is approximately 130,500,000 people.
Of these, 82% (107,010,000) live in cities and towns, and:
in Moscow 12,948,000, in the Moscow region 7,997,000, in St. Petersburg 6,897,000,
in the Leningrad region 3,479,000 (including temporary registrations and work permits for foreign migrants).
Almost all the gas produced in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug (89% of all gas produced in Russia) passes through one area, where 17 high-pressure main gas pipelines intersected among the endless tundra and floodplain forests of the Pravaya Khetta River
Local residents from the village of Pangody call it very appropriately - “Cross”.
Whether this happened due to malicious intent or misunderstanding is unknown, but the lives of 78% of the Russian population depend on a plot of 500 by 500 meters.
In the event of Russia being forced to obey the AGGRESSOR, a strike on one geographical point of the Russian Federation will immediately cause a catastrophe in the electric power industry of the European part of Russia (it is 80% dependent on natural gas), will undermine the most important source of foreign exchange income and (if it happens in winter) will cause the death of hundreds of thousands of people from the cold, because with the shutdown of thermal power plants, the supply of heating in cities will also cease.
From the coast of the Arctic Ocean to Panguda is a little more than 500 km. Air defense in these places is completely absent. Cruise missile - 15 minutes of normal flight.
Many Russian Air Force pilots do not have flight hours even up to the minimum standard: on average 50 hours per year (8.5 minutes per day), instead of 120 (20 minutes per day). Major Troyanov, who crashed on Lithuanian territory in September 2005 in a Su-27, had an annual flight time of 14 hours; he lost his way due to lack of flight practice. There will soon not be a single sniper pilot in aviation, almost no 1st class pilots. In 10 years, only 3rd class pilots aged 37-40 will remain.
As a result of the reform of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, in the Ground Forces alone, by 2012 the number of units and formations will decrease from 1,890 to 172. The officer corps will be reduced from 315,000 to 150,000 people, and the general corps from 1,886 to 900 people. The apparatus of the Ministry of Defense will be reduced by 2.5 times, the institute of warrant officers and midshipmen (170,000 people) will be liquidated, and 65 military universities will be reorganized into 10 educational and research centers. Maybe that’s why 87% of Russian army officers are openly disloyal to the authorities. In 2009, only 16 officers of the Russian Armed Forces were able to enter the Military Academy of the General Staff.
Since 1994, the supply of new equipment to the air defense troops stopped and did not resume until 2007. Therefore, the country's air defense has long been focal in nature, providing cover only for some of the most important objects. There are huge “holes” gaping in it, the largest of which is between Khabarovsk and Irkutsk (about 3,400 km). Not even all missile divisions of the Strategic Missile Forces are covered by ground-based air defense, in particular this applies to the 7th, 14th, 28th, 35th, 54th divisions. In 62 constituent entities of the Russian Federation, air defense is “strikingly absent.” Such centers of the Russian defense industry as Perm, Izhevsk, Vladimir, Nizhny Novgorod, Omsk, Chelyabinsk, Tula, Ulyanovsk are not protected from air strikes. As for the “new thing” of Russian air defense, so far there are only two divisions (4 launchers, 24 missiles). This is not enough to cover even a country like Serbia.”
The Southern Kuril Islands are a stumbling block in relations between Russia and Japan. The dispute over the ownership of the islands prevents our neighboring countries from concluding a peace treaty, which was violated during the Second World War, negatively affects economic ties between Russia and Japan, and contributes to a constantly persistent state of mistrust, even hostility, between the Russian and Japanese peoples
Kurile Islands
The Kuril Islands are located between the Kamchatka Peninsula and the island of Hokkaido. The islands stretch for 1200 km. from north to south and separate the Sea of Okhotsk from the Pacific Ocean, the total area of the islands is about 15 thousand square meters. km. In total, the Kuril Islands include 56 islands and rocks, but there are 31 islands with an area of more than one kilometer. The largest in the Kuril ridge are Urup (1450 sq. km), Iturup (3318.8), Paramushir (2053), Kunashir (1495), Simushir (353), Shumshu (388), Onekotan (425), Shikotan (264). All Kuril Islands belong to Russia. Japan disputes the ownership of only the islands of Kunashir Iturup Shikotan and the Habomai ridge. The Russian state border runs between the Japanese island of Hokkaido and the Kuril island of KunashirDisputed islands - Kunashir, Shikotan, Iturup, Habomai
Kunashir Island
Habomai
History of the discovery of the Kuril Islands
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In October-November 1648, the first Russian passed through the First Kuril Strait, that is, the strait separating the northernmost island of the Kuril ridge, Shumshu, from the southern tip of Kamchatka, Koch under the command of the clerk of the Moscow merchant Usov, Fedot Alekseevich Popov. It is possible that Popov’s people even landed on Shumshu.
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The first Europeans to visit the islands of the Kuril chain were the Dutch. The two ships Castricum and Breskens, which left Batavia in the direction of Japan on February 3, 1643, under the overall command of Martin de Vries, approached the Lesser Kuril Ridge on June 13. The Dutch saw the shores of Iturup and Shikotan, and discovered a strait between the islands of Iturup and Kunashir.
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In 1711, the Cossacks Antsiferov and Kozyrevsky visited the Northern Kuril Islands Shumsha and Paramushir and even unsuccessfully tried to extract tribute from the local population - the Ainu.
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In 1721, by decree of Peter the Great, the expedition of Evreeenov and Luzhin was sent to the Kuril Islands, who explored and mapped 14 islands in the central part of the Kuril ridge.
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In the summer of 1739, a Russian ship under the command of M. Shpanberg circled the islands of the South Kuril ridge. Shpanberg mapped, although inaccurately, the entire ridge of the Kuril Islands from the Kamchatka nose to Hokkaido.
Aboriginal people lived on the Kuril Islands - the Ainu. Ainu - the first population Japanese Islands- was gradually forced out by newcomers from Central Asia north to the island of Hokkaido and further to the Kuril Islands. From October 1946 to May 1948, tens of thousands of Ainu and Japanese were taken from the Kuril Islands and Sakhalin to the island of Hokkaido
The problem of the Kuril Islands. Briefly
- 1855, February 7 (new style) - the first diplomatic document in relations between Russia and Japan, the so-called Symond Treaty, was signed in the Japanese port of Shimoda. On behalf of Russia, he was endorsed by Vice Admiral E.V. Putyatin, and on behalf of Japan by Commissioner Toshiakira Kawaji.
Article 2: “From now on, the borders between Russia and Japan will pass between the islands of Iturup and Urup. The entire island of Iturup belongs to Japan, and the entire island of Urup and the other Kuril Islands to the north are the possession of Russia. As for the island of Krafto (Sakhalin), it remains undivided between Russia and Japan, as it has been until now.”
- 1875, May 7 - a new Russian-Japanese Treaty “On the Exchange of Territories” was concluded in St. Petersburg. It was signed by Foreign Minister A. Gorchakov on behalf of Russia, and Admiral Enomoto Takeaki on behalf of Japan.
Article 1. “His Majesty the Emperor of Japan... cedes to His Majesty the Emperor of All Russia part of the territory of the island of Sakhalin (Crafto), which he now owns... so from now on, the entire said island of Sakhalin (Crafto) will completely belong to Russian Empire and the border line between the Russian and Japanese Empires will pass in these waters through the Strait of La Perouse"
Article 2. “In return for ceding Russia’s rights to the island of Sakhalin, His Majesty the All-Russian Emperor cedes to His Majesty the Emperor of Japan a group of islands called the Kuril Islands. ... This group includes... eighteen islands 1) Shumshu 2) Alaid 3) Paramushir 4) Makanrushi 5) Onekotan, 6) Kharimkotan, 7) Ekarma, 8) Shiashkotan, 9) Mus-sir, 10) Raikoke, 11) Matua , 12) Rastua, 13) the islands of Sredneva and Ushisir, 14) Ketoi, 15) Simusir, 16) Broughton, 17) the islands of Cherpoy and Brat Cherpoev and 18) Urup, so the border line between the Russian and Japanese Empires will pass in these waters through the strait located between Cape Lopatka of the Kamchatka Peninsula and Shumshu Island"
- 1895, May 28 - the Treaty between Russia and Japan on trade and navigation was signed in St. Petersburg. On the Russian side it was signed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs A. Lobanov-Rostovsky and the Minister of Finance S. Witte, on the Japanese side by the Plenipotentiary Envoy to the Russian Court Nishi Tokujiro. The agreement consisted of 20 articles.
Article 18 stated that the treaty supersedes all previous Russo-Japanese treaties, agreements and conventions
- 1905, September 5 - the Portsmouth Peace Treaty was concluded in Portsmouth (USA), ending the Treaty. On behalf of Russia it was signed by the Chairman of the Committee of Ministers S. Witte and Ambassador to the USA R. Rosen, on behalf of Japan - by Foreign Minister D. Komura and Envoy to the USA K. Takahira.
Article IX: “The Russian imperial government cedes to the imperial Japanese government for eternal and full possession of the southern part of the island of Sakhalin and all the islands adjacent to the latter…. The fiftieth parallel of northern latitude is taken as the limit of the ceded territory."
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1907, July 30 - An Agreement between Japan and Russia was signed in St. Petersburg, consisting of a public convention and a secret treaty. The convention stated that the parties agreed to respect the territorial integrity of both countries and all rights arising from treaties existing between them. The agreement was signed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs A. Izvolsky and the Ambassador of Japan to Russia I. Motono
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1916, July 3 - the Russian-Japanese alliance was established in Petrograd. Consisted of a vowel and a secret part. The secret one also confirmed previous Russian-Japanese agreements. The documents were signed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs S. Sazonov and I. Motono
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1925, January 20 - the Soviet-Japanese Convention on the Basic Principles of Relations, ... declaration of the Soviet Government ... was signed in Beijing. The documents were endorsed by L. Karakhan from the USSR and K. Yoshizawa from Japan
Convention.
Article II: "Union of Soviet Socialist Republics agrees that the treaty concluded at Portsmouth on September 5, 1905, remains in full force and effect. It is agreed that treaties, conventions and agreements, other than the said Treaty of Portsmouth, concluded between Japan and Russia before November 7, 1917, will be reviewed at a conference to be held subsequently between the Governments of the Contracting Parties, and that they may be amended or repealed as changed circumstances will require"
The declaration emphasized that the government of the USSR did not share with the former tsarist government political responsibility for the conclusion of the Portsmouth Peace Treaty: “The Commissioner of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics has the honor to declare that the recognition by his Government of the validity of the Portsmouth Treaty of September 5, 1905 in no way means that The Government of the Union shares with the former tsarist government the political responsibility for concluding the said treaty.”
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1941, April 13 - Neutrality Pact between Japan and the USSR. The pact was signed by Foreign Ministers Molotov and Yosuke Matsuoka
Article 2 “In the event that one of the contracting parties becomes the object of hostilities on the part of one or more third powers, the other contracting party will remain neutral during the entire conflict.”
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1945, February 11 - at the Yalta conference, Stalin Roosevelt and Churchill signed an agreement on Far East issues.
"2. The return of Russian rights violated by the treacherous attack of Japan in 1904, namely:
a) the return of the southern part of the island to the Soviet Union. Sakhalin and all the adjacent islands...
3. Transfer of the Kuril Islands to the Soviet Union"
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1945, April 5 - Molotov received the Japanese Ambassador to the USSR Naotake Sato and made him a statement that in conditions when Japan is at war with England and the USA, allies of the USSR, the pact loses its meaning and its extension becomes impossible
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1945, August 9 - The USSR declared war on Japan
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1946, January 29 - Memorandum of the Commander-in-Chief allied forces in the Far East, the American General D. MacArthur determined for the Japanese government that the southern part of Sakhalin and all the Kuril Islands, including the Lesser Kuril chain (the Habomai group of islands and Shikotan Island), were withdrawn from the sovereignty of the Japanese state
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1946, February 2 - By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, in accordance with the provisions of the Yalta Agreement and the Potsdam Declaration, the Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk (now Sakhalin) region of the RSFSR was created on the returned Russian territories
The return of South Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands to the Russian territory made it possible to ensure the access of ships of the USSR Navy to the Pacific Ocean, and to gain a new frontier for the forward deployment of the Far Eastern group of ground forces and military aviation of the Soviet Union, and now the Russian Federation, far beyond the continent.
- 1951, September 8 - Japan signed the San Francisco Peace Treaty, according to which it renounced “all rights ... to the Kuril Islands and to that part of Sakhalin Island ..., over which it acquired sovereignty under the Treaty of Portsmouth of September 5, 1905.” The USSR refused to sign this treaty, since, according to Minister Gromyko, the text of the treaty did not enshrine the sovereignty of the USSR over South Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands.
The San Francisco Peace Treaty between the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition and Japan officially ended the Second world war, established the procedure for paying reparations to allies and compensation to countries affected by Japanese aggression
- 1956, August 19 - in Moscow, the USSR and Japan signed a declaration ending the state of war between them. According to it (including) the island of Shikotan and the Habomai ridge were to be transferred to Japan after the signing of a peace treaty between the USSR and Japan. However, soon Japan, under pressure from the United States, refused to sign a peace treaty, since the United States threatened that if Japan withdraws its claims to the islands of Kunashir and Iturup, the Ryukyu archipelago with the island of Okinawa, which, on the basis of Article 3 of the San Francisco Peace Treaty, would not be returned to Japan. the treaty was then administered by the United States
“Russian President V.V. Putin has repeatedly confirmed that Russia, as a successor state of the USSR, is committed to this document... It is clear that if it comes to the implementation of the 1956 Declaration, a lot of details will have to be agreed upon... However, the sequence that is set out in this Declaration remains unchanged... the first step before everything else is the signing and entry into force of a peace treaty "(Russian Foreign Minister S Lavrov)
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1960, January 19 - Japan and the United States signed the “Cooperation and Security Treaty”
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1960, January 27 - the USSR government stated that since this agreement is directed against the USSR, it refuses to consider the issue of transferring the islands to Japan, since this would lead to an expansion of the territory used by American troops
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2011, November - Lavrov: “The Kuril Islands were, are and will be our territory in accordance with the decisions that were made following the Second World War”
Iturup, the largest of the South Kuril islands, which became ours 70 years ago. Under the Japanese, tens of thousands of people lived here, life was in full swing in villages and markets, there was a large military base from where the Japanese squadron left to destroy Pearl Harbor. What have we built here over the past years? Recently there was an airport. A couple of shops and hotels also appeared. And in the main settlement - the city of Kurilsk with a population of just over one and a half thousand people - they laid an outlandish attraction: a couple of hundred meters (!) of asphalt. But in the store the seller warns the buyer: “The product is almost expired. Are you taking it? And he hears in response: “Yes, I know. Of course I'll take it." Why not take it if you don’t have enough of your own food (with the exception of fish and what the garden provides), and there won’t be a supply in the coming days, or rather, it’s unknown when it will be. People here like to say: we have 3 thousand people and 8 thousand bears here. There are more people, of course, if you also count the military and border guards, but no one counted the bears - maybe there are more of them. From the south to the north of the island you have to travel along a harsh dirt road through a pass, where every car is guarded by hungry foxes, and roadside mugs are the size of a person, you can hide with them. Beauty, of course: volcanoes, ravines, springs. But it is safe to drive on the local dirt paths only during the day and when
there is no fog. And in rare populated areas the streets are empty after nine in the evening - a de facto curfew. A simple question - why did the Japanese live well here, but we only succeed in settlements? - for most inhabitants it simply does not occur. We live and guard the earth.(“Shift sovereignty.” “Ogonyok” No. 25 (5423), June 27, 2016)
Once a prominent Soviet figure was asked: “Why don’t you give these islands to Japan. She has such a small territory, and yours is so large? “That’s why it’s big because we don’t give it back,” the activist answered.
