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Abstract: This paper presents reservoir age determinations of pre-bomb marine mollusc shells from Sakhalin Island, Sea of Japan and Okhotsk Sea. The samples were collected from Japanese waste disposal sites created between 1905 and 1945. Radiocarbon analyses of the shells are used to establish marine reservoir age corrections for each site. The ΔR value for the Sea of Japan, +95±60 years, is consistent with previous data. The ΔR value for the Okhotsk Sea is found to be +578±50 years. The large difference in reservoir age between the two locations results from significantly different sources of surface water. The water source for the Sea of Japan is the Tsushima Current, a branch of the Kuroshio Current that originates in the equatorial Pacific and has a ΔR value close to the mean ocean value. The primary water source for the Okhotsk Sea is the Oyashio Current, which transports water from the Bering Sea in the open Northern Pacific. This source is depleted with 14C, as compared with waters of the equatorial Pacific. The southern Kuriles (Zeleny and Yuri islands) reflect a mixture of Oyashio and Kuroshio waters, with a ΔR value of +354±23 years. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]