Japan, Russia, and the Northern Territories: continuities, changes, obstacles, opportunities.

The article looks at the stance of the Japanese and Soviet Union governments concerning the islands off the northeast coast of Hokkaido, Japan, which the Russians seized in the last days of World War II. It presents information on the wars fought by each country against each other. It discusses the reasons for Japan's pessimism over the chances for first Soviet and now Commonwealth political development. It compares the contradiction between the principle and reality in Japan's relations with Russia with Japan's self-defense policy.