New Edition of the Joint Compendium of Documents on the History of Territorial Issue between Japan and Russia
PREFACE
The formation of the Russian Federation and its emergence on the international stage as a nation retaining continuity with the Soviet Union has enabled Japan-Russia relations to achieve new progress. The policy to advance democratic and market economy reforms was pursued by leaders of Russia, and Japan's support for such policy in its bilateral relations with Russia has resulted in the erasure of political competition, ideological and military confrontation, and in the engenderment of a completely different set of conditions in which both nations stand upon the common platform of universal values of democratic society. Such qualitatively new conditions have opened up far-reaching possibilities of radically improving and activating all areas of Japan-Russia relations.
One of the most important tasks in such a context is overcoming past legacies of the bilateral relations, namely the conclusion of a peace treaty through the solution of the issue of where the islands of Etorofu, Kunashiri, Shikotan and Habomai belong, which means the accomplishment of the complete normalization of Japan-Russia relations in the post-war period.
After 1993, a series of important documents concerning this issue was newly adopted by both countries.
On 13 October 1993, Prime Minister Morihiro Hosokawa of Japan and President Boris N. Yeltsin of the Russian Federation signed the Tokyo Declaration on Japan-Russia Relations. This was the first comprehensive document signed between Japan and the Russian Federation establishing the principal direction of progress for bilateral relations. The Tokyo Declaration stipulates the necessity for the early conclusion of a peace treaty through the solution of the issue of where the aforementioned islands belong, on the basis of historical and legal facts and based on the documents produced subject to the consent between both countries as well as on the principles of law and justice. Consequently, the Tokyo Declaration is especially important.
The Tokyo Declaration forms a cornerstone of the Japan-Russia relations concerning the conclusion of a peace treaty.
At the Krasnoyarsk Informal summit Meeting in 1997, Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto of Japan and President Boris N. Yeltsin of the Russian Federation agreed to make all the efforts to conclude a peace treaty by 2000 based on the Tokyo Declaration.
The positive momentum brought about by the Krasnoyarsk Summit Meeting made an extremely significant contribution to the Japan-Russia relations first and foremost in terms of activating dialogue concerning the issue of a peace treaty.
The Japanese-Russian Joint Committee on the Conclusion of a Peace Treaty was established, which is chaired by the Foreign Ministers of both countries.
A proposal for the solution of the above-mentioned issue was presented by Japan at the talks between Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto of Japan and President Boris N. Yeltsin of the Russian Federation in Kawana in April 1998. Russia's response to this was conveyed to Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi of Japan at the summit meeting in Moscow in November 1998. This contributed to deepening mutual understanding regarding each other's position, and to facilitating the continuation of the pursuit of a mutually acceptable method of resolving the above-mentioned issue.
Since the Krasnoyarsk Summit Meeting, bilateral exchange and contact in the region of the islands have been rapidly boosted, forming a crucially positive element to the Japan-Russia relations and have substantially improved the atmosphere surrounding the peace treaty negotiations.
In the early half of the 1990s, mutual visits without visas enabling Japanese nationals to visit the islands and Russian residents in the islands to visit Japan were initiated based on the exchange of letters between the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan and the Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation on 14 October 1991. Moreover, humanitarian assistance to island residents has been provided by the Government of Japan, especially after the earthquake in 1994.
On 21 February 1998, the Agreement between the Government of Japan and the Government of the Russian Federation on some matters of cooperation in the field of fishing operations for marine living resources was signed, ensuring that Japanese fishermen are able to operate in the waters around the islands.
On 18 September 1998, the exchange of Notes Verbale took place between the Embassy of Japan in the Russian Federation and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation regarding visits without visas aimed at providing emergency humanitarian assistance.
The Moscow Declaration on Establishing a Creative Partnership between Japan and the Russian Federation was signed on the occasion of the official visit of Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi of Japan to the Russian Federation on 13 November 1998. The Declaration, for the first time in the history of the Japan-Russia bilateral relations, pointed out the task of building a partnership between the two countries. In accordance with the Declaration, for the purpose of activating the peace treaty negotiations, two sub-committees were established within the framework of the Japanese-Russian Joint Committee on the Conclusion of a Peace Treaty, namely the sub-committee on border demarcation and the sub-committee on joint economic activities in islands.
Furthermore, in order to implement the relevant provision of the Declaration, on 2 September 1999, both countries set up a framework, streamlined to the maximum extent possible, for visits to the islands of former Japanese residents and members of their families.
In the talks between Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori of Japan and Vladimir V. Putin of the Russian Federation in St. Petersburg on 29 April 2000, a common understanding was confirmed regarding the strategic importance of the Japan-Russia relations in the modern world, and the main direction for the development of the relations in the future was set up, namely strategic coordination in international issues, cooperation in the areas of trade and economy as well as the conclusion of a peace treaty.
From 3 to 5 September 2000, President Vladimir V. Putin of the Russian Federation made an official visit to Japan. As an outcome of the visit, both countries were able to advance notably the bilateral relationship towards a genuine partnership.
As a result of this summit meeting, Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori of Japan and President Vladimir V. Putin of the Russian Federation signed a statement on the issue of a peace treaty, conforming to the direction of improving the efficiency of the negotiating process. Improving the efficiency of the negotiating process mentioned above means drawing up new measures to accelerate the work carried out by the Japanese-Russian Joint Committee on the Conclusion of a Peace Treaty and the sub-committee on border demarcation, preparing a new edition of the Joint Compendium of Documents on the History of Territorial Issue between Japan and Russia, and striving to explain to the citizens of both countries the importance of concluding a peace treaty.
In accordance with the decision made by Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori of Japan and President Vladimir V. Putin of the Russian Federation, readers are provided with a new edition of the Joint Compendium of Documents on the History of Territorial Issue between both countries produced by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation. This reference material was published as an expanded edition of "the Joint Compendium of Documents on the History of Territorial Issue between Japan and Russia" in September 1992. This expanded edition includes documents produced subsequent to 1993.
We hope that reference to this material will contribute to forming an objective understanding with regard to the issues touched upon in the document.
16 January 2001
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation
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