Land wars
Japan is no stranger to territorial disputes. In arguments about territory, its main adversary is usually China. The countries are very close to one another, and share disputed sea borders. The most serious of such territorial disputes is the one over the Senkaku Islands. These islands in the East China Sea have been a bone of territorial contention between China and Japan for well over a century. Japan’s actions during several wars have also given birth to many territorial arguments, most of them due to its history of occupying its neighbours. The Japanese Empire lasted over seventy years, and spanned the Asia-Pacific. In its heyday, all of the Korean Peninsula, and the Manchuria region of China were under its control. But today, a very different land dispute in underway, and with a country few would expect – Russia.
Old rivals
It may surprise many to know that Russia and Japan have animosity stretching back over a century. From 1904 to 1905, Japan and Russia were at war. The two great empires faced off against one another, in the Russo-Japanese War, a fight to the finish. The target? Imperial possession of Korea and Manchuria. Aided by Montenegro, Russian forces battled the Japanese. Shockingly, with half as many men, Japan emerged victorious, and Russia, humiliated. The Soviet Union would go to war with Japan in 1945, a key piece of the eastern theatre of the Second World War. This time, they would prove victorious. Ending Japanese control in Manchuria and the northern half of Korea, the Soviet Union pushed the key domino that would lead to an eventual Japanese surrender. But the territorial dispute still ongoing pre-dates both wars.
[via Il Velino]
The Northern Territories
Russia calls them the Southern Kurils, Japan, the Northern Territories. Whatever you call it, these four tiny islands on the edge of the Pacific Ocean are a source of bitter dispute. The 1855 Treaty of Shimoda, despite being the first point of diplomacy between the two empires, was supposed to end the debate. The treaty established that the island of Sakhalin was to remain jointly administrated between the two powers, and the Kuril Islands in their entirety was to belong to Russia. But it would not remain as such. The 1875 Treaty of St Petersburg established that in exchange for Japan surrendering total control of Sakhalin to Russia, Russia would give up all rights to the Kuril Islands (the Northern Territories). The onset of several wars then once again tipped sovereignty and control into dispute, and this is how it remains to this day.
This means war?
Russia has already shown that it is willing to regain control of lands it considers to be its own. Events in Ukraine have made this apparent. Reports that Russia is in the midst of constructing a military base in what Japan considers to be its Northern Territory further confirm this. Once, Japan’s pacifist national constitution would have prevented the outbreak of war – but no more. In the midst of violent protests, and fierce opposition from the public, the Japanese government passed a raft of new security legislation. In a reversion of the seventy-year-old status quo, Japan once again committed itself to war. These new security measures allow for the deployment of troops in foreign countries. With Russia constructing a military base on disputed land, it may soon be time for Japan to put these laws into action.
