Russian islands of the Kuril ridge. The dispute between Russia and Japan over the islands is unlikely to be resolved. Kuril Islands and relations between Russia and Japan

The Kuril Islands are represented by a series of Far Eastern island territories; one side is the Kamchatka Peninsula, and the other is the island. Hokkaido in . The Kuril Islands of Russia are represented by the Sakhalin region, which stretches approximately 1,200 km in length with an area of ​​15,600 square kilometers.

The islands of the Kuril chain are represented by two groups located opposite each other - called Big and Small. A large group located in the south includes Kunashir, Iturup and others, in the center are Simushir, Keta and in the north are the remaining island territories.

Shikotan, Habomai and a number of others are considered the Lesser Kuril Islands. For the most part, all island territories are mountainous and reach a height of 2,339 meters. The Kuril Islands on their lands have approximately 40 volcanic hills that are still active. There are also springs with hot mineral water here. The south of the Kuril Islands is covered with forests, and the north attracts with unique tundra vegetation.

The problem of the Kuril Islands lies in the unresolved dispute between the Japanese and Russian sides over who owns them. And it has remained open since the Second World War.

After the war, the Kuril Islands became part of the USSR. But Japan considers the territories of the southern Kuril Islands, and these are Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan with the Habomai group of islands, its territory, without having a legal basis. Russia does not recognize the fact of a dispute with the Japanese side over these territories, since their ownership is legal.

The problem of the Kuril Islands is the main obstacle to a peaceful settlement of relations between Japan and Russia.

The essence of the dispute between Japan and Russia

The Japanese are demanding the Kuril Islands be returned to them. Almost the entire population there is convinced that these lands are originally Japanese. This dispute between the two states has been going on for a very long time, escalating after the Second World War.
Russia is not inclined to yield to Japanese state leaders on this issue. The peace agreement has not yet been signed, and this is connected precisely with the four disputed South Kuril Islands. About the legality of Japan's claims to the Kuril Islands in this video.

Meanings of the Southern Kuril Islands

The Southern Kuril Islands have several meanings for both countries:

1. Military. The Southern Kuril Islands are of military importance due to the only access to the Pacific Ocean for the country's fleet. And all because of the scarcity of geographical formations. At the moment, ships are entering ocean waters through the Sangar Strait, because it is impossible to pass through the La Perouse Strait due to icing. Therefore, submarines are located in Kamchatka - Avachinskaya Bay. The military bases operating during the Soviet era have now all been looted and abandoned.
2. Economic. Economic significance - the Sakhalin region has quite serious hydrocarbon potential. And the fact that the entire territory of the Kuril Islands belongs to Russia allows you to use the waters there at your discretion. Although its central part belongs to the Japanese side. In addition to water resources, there is such a rare metal as rhenium. By extracting it, the Russian Federation is in third place in the production of minerals and sulfur. For the Japanese, this area is important for fishing and agricultural needs. This caught fish is used by the Japanese to grow rice - they simply pour it onto the rice fields to fertilize it.
3. Social. By and large, there is no special social interest for ordinary people in the southern Kuril Islands. This is because there are no modern megacities, people mostly work there and their lives are spent in cabins. Supplies are delivered by air, and less often by water due to constant storms. Therefore, the Kuril Islands are more of a military-industrial facility than a social one.
4. Tourist. In this regard, things are better in the southern Kuril Islands. These places will be of interest to many people who are attracted by everything real, natural and extreme. It is unlikely that anyone will remain indifferent at the sight of a thermal spring gushing out of the ground, or from climbing the caldera of a volcano and crossing the fumarole field on foot. And there’s no need to talk about the views that open up to your eyes.

For this reason, the dispute over the ownership of the Kuril Islands never gets off the ground.

Dispute over Kuril territory

Who owns these four island territories - Shikotan, Iturup, Kunashir and the Habomai Islands - is not an easy question.

Information from written sources points to the discoverers of the Kuril Islands - the Dutch. The Russians were the first to populate the territory of Chishimu. Shikotan Island and the other three were designated for the first time by the Japanese. But the fact of discovery does not yet provide grounds for ownership of this territory.

The island of Shikotan is considered the end of the world because of the cape of the same name located near the village of Malokurilsky. It impresses with its 40-meter drop into the ocean waters. This place is called the edge of the world due to the stunning views of the Pacific Ocean.
Shikotan Island translates as Big City. It stretches for 27 kilometers, measures 13 kilometers in width, and occupies an area of ​​225 square meters. km. The highest point of the island is the mountain of the same name, rising 412 meters. Part of its territory belongs to the state nature reserve.

Shikotan Island has a very rugged coastline with numerous bays, capes and cliffs.

Previously, it was thought that the mountains on the island were volcanoes that had ceased to erupt, with which the Kuril Islands abound. But they turned out to be rocks displaced by shifts of lithospheric plates.

A little history

Long before the Russians and Japanese, the Kuril Islands were inhabited by the Ainu. The first information from Russians and Japanese about the Kuril Islands appeared only in the 17th century. A Russian expedition was sent in the 18th century, after which about 9,000 Ainu became Russian citizens.

A treaty was signed between Russia and Japan (1855), called Shimodsky, where boundaries were established allowing Japanese citizens to trade on 2/3 of this land. Sakhalin remained no man's territory. After 20 years, Russia became the undivided owner of this land, then lost the south in the Russo-Japanese War. But during the Second World War, Soviet troops were still able to regain the south of Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands as a whole.
A peace agreement was nevertheless signed between the victorious states and Japan, and this happened in San Francisco in 1951. And according to it, Japan has absolutely no rights to the Kuril Islands.

But then the signing by the Soviet side did not happen, which was considered by many researchers to be a mistake. But there were serious reasons for this:

• The document did not specifically indicate what was included in the Kuril Islands. The Americans said that it was necessary to apply to a special international court for this. Plus, a member of the Japanese delegation announced that the southern disputed islands are not the territory of the Kuril Islands.
• The document also did not indicate exactly who would own the Kuril Islands. That is, the issue remained controversial.

In 1956, the USSR and the Japanese side signed a declaration preparing a platform for the main peace agreement. In it, the Country of the Soviets meets the Japanese halfway and agrees to transfer to them only the two disputed islands of Habomai and Shikotan. But with a condition - only after signing a peace agreement.

The declaration contains several subtleties:

• The word “transfer” means that they belong to the USSR.
• This transfer will actually take place after the signatures on the peace treaty have been signed.
• This applies only to the two Kuril Islands.

This was a positive development between the Soviet Union and the Japanese side, but it also caused concern among the Americans. Thanks to Washington pressure, the Japanese government completely changed ministerial positions and new officials who took high positions began to prepare a military agreement between America and Japan, which began to operate in 1960.

After this, a call came from Japan to give up not two islands offered to the USSR, but four. America puts pressure on the fact that all agreements between the Country of Soviets and Japan are not necessary to be fulfilled, they are supposedly declarative. And the existing and current military agreement between the Japanese and the Americans implies the deployment of their troops on Japanese territory. Accordingly, they have now come even closer to Russian territory.

Based on all this, Russian diplomats stated that until all foreign troops are withdrawn from its territory, a peace agreement cannot even be discussed. But in any case, we are talking about only two islands in the Kuril Islands.

As a result, American security forces are still located on Japanese territory. The Japanese insist on the transfer of the 4 Kuril Islands, as stated in the declaration.

The second half of the 80s of the 20th century was marked by the weakening of the Soviet Union and in these conditions the Japanese side again raises this topic. But the dispute over who will own the South Kuril Islands remains open. The Tokyo Declaration of 1993 states that the Russian Federation is the legal successor of the Soviet Union, and accordingly, previously signed papers must be recognized by both parties. It also indicated the direction to move towards resolving the territorial affiliation of the disputed four Kuril Islands.

The advent of the 21st century, and specifically 2004, was marked by the raising of this topic again at a meeting between Russian President Putin and the Prime Minister of Japan. And again everything happened again - the Russian side offers its conditions for signing a peace agreement, and Japanese officials insist that all four South Kuril Islands be transferred to their disposal.

2005 was marked by the Russian president's willingness to end the dispute, guided by the 1956 agreement, and transfer two island territories to Japan, but Japanese leaders did not agree with this proposal.

In order to somehow reduce tensions between the two states, the Japanese side was offered to help develop nuclear energy, develop infrastructure and tourism, and also improve the environmental situation, as well as security. The Russian side accepted this proposal.

At the moment, for Russia there is no question of who owns the Kuril Islands. Without any doubt, this is the territory of the Russian Federation, based on real facts - based on the results of the Second World War and the generally recognized UN Charter.

Disputes about the four South Kuril Islands, which currently belong to the Russian Federation, have been going on for quite some time. As a result of agreements and wars signed at different times, this land changed hands several times. Currently, these islands are the cause of an unresolved territorial dispute between Russia and Japan.

Discovery of the islands

The issue of the discovery of the Kuril Islands is controversial. According to the Japanese side, the Japanese were the first to set foot on the islands in 1644. A map of that time with the designations marked on it - “Kunashiri”, “Etorofu”, etc. is carefully preserved in the National Museum of Japan. And Russian pioneers, the Japanese believe, first came to the Kuril ridge only during the time of Tsar Peter I, in 1711, and on the Russian map of 1721 these islands are called “Japanese Islands”.

But in reality the situation is different: firstly, the Japanese received the first information about the Kuril Islands (from the Ainu language - “kuru” means “a person who came from nowhere”) from the local Ainu residents (the oldest non-Japanese population of the Kuril Islands and the Japanese Islands) during an expedition to Hokkaido in 1635. Moreover, the Japanese did not reach the Kuril lands themselves due to constant conflicts with the local population.

It should be noted that the Ainu were hostile to the Japanese, and initially treated the Russians well, considering them their “brothers”, due to the similarity in appearance and methods of communication between the Russians and small nations.

Secondly, the Kuril Islands were discovered by the Dutch expedition of Maarten Gerritsen de Vries (Fries) in 1643, the Dutch were looking for the so-called. "Golden Lands" The Dutch did not like the lands, and they sold their detailed description and map to the Japanese. It was on the basis of Dutch data that the Japanese compiled their maps.

Thirdly, the Japanese at that time did not control not only the Kuril Islands, but even Hokkaido; only their stronghold was in its southern part. The Japanese began conquering the island at the beginning of the 17th century, and the fight against the Ainu continued for two centuries. That is, if the Russians were interested in expansion, then Hokkaido could become a Russian island. This was made easier by the good attitude of the Ainu towards the Russians and their hostility towards the Japanese. There are also records of this fact. The Japanese state of that time did not officially consider itself the sovereign of not only Sakhalin and the Kuril lands, but also Hokkaido (Matsumae) - this was confirmed in a circular by the head of the Japanese government, Matsudaira, during Russian-Japanese negotiations on the border and trade in 1772.

Fourthly, Russian explorers visited the islands before the Japanese. In the Russian state, the first mention of the Kuril lands dates back to 1646, when Nekhoroshko Ivanovich Kolobov gave a report to Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich about the campaigns of Ivan Yuryevich Moskvitin and spoke about the bearded Ainu inhabiting the Kuril Islands. In addition, Dutch, Scandinavian and German medieval chronicles and maps report about the first Russian settlements in the Kuril Islands at that time. The first reports about the Kuril lands and their inhabitants reached the Russians in the middle of the 17th century.

In 1697, during the expedition of Vladimir Atlasov to Kamchatka, new information about the islands appeared; the Russians explored the islands as far as Simushir (an island in the middle group of the Great Ridge of the Kuril Islands).

XVIII century

Peter I knew about the Kuril Islands; in 1719, the tsar sent a secret expedition to Kamchatka under the leadership of Ivan Mikhailovich Evreinov and Fyodor Fedorovich Luzhin. Marine surveyor Evreinov and surveyor-cartographer Luzhin had to determine whether there was a strait between Asia and America. The expedition reached the island of Simushir in the south and brought local residents and rulers to swear allegiance to the Russian state.

In 1738-1739, the navigator Martyn Petrovich Shpanberg (Danish by origin) walked along the entire Kuril ridge, put all the islands he encountered on the map, including the entire Lesser Kuril ridge (these are 6 large and a number of small islands that are separated from the Great Kuril ridge in the South -Kuril Strait). He explored the lands as far as Hokkaido (Matsumaya), bringing the local Ainu rulers to swear allegiance to the Russian state.

Subsequently, the Russians avoided voyages to the southern islands and developed the northern territories. Unfortunately, at this time, abuses against the Ainu were noted not only by the Japanese, but also by the Russians.

In 1771, the Lesser Kuril Ridge was removed from Russia and came under the protectorate of Japan. The Russian authorities sent the nobleman Antipin with the translator Shabalin to rectify the situation. They were able to persuade the Ainu to restore Russian citizenship. In 1778-1779, Russian envoys brought more than 1.5 thousand people from Iturup, Kunashir and even Hokkaido into citizenship. In 1779, Catherine II freed those who had accepted Russian citizenship from all taxes.

In 1787, the “Extensive Land Description of the Russian State...” contained a list of the Kuril Islands up to Hokkaido-Matsumaya, the status of which had not yet been determined. Although the Russians did not control the lands south of Urup Island, the Japanese were active there.

In 1799, by order of seii-taishogun Tokugawa Ienari, he headed the Tokugawa Shogunate, two outposts were built on Kunashir and Iturup, and permanent garrisons were placed there. Thus, the Japanese secured the status of these territories within Japan by military means.

Treaty

In 1845, the Empire of Japan unilaterally declared its power over all of Sakhalin and the Kuril ridge. This naturally caused a violent negative reaction from the Russian Emperor Nicholas I. But the Russian Empire did not have time to take action; the events of the Crimean War prevented it. Therefore, it was decided to make concessions and not bring matters to war.

On February 7, 1855, the first diplomatic agreement was concluded between Russia and Japan - Treaty of Shimoda. It was signed by Vice Admiral E.V. Putyatin and Toshiakira Kawaji. According to Article 9 of the treaty, “permanent peace and sincere friendship between Russia and Japan” were established. Japan ceded the islands from Iturup and to the south, Sakhalin was declared a joint, indivisible possession. Russians in Japan received consular jurisdiction, Russian ships received the right to enter the ports of Shimoda, Hakodate, and Nagasaki. The Russian Empire received most favored nation treatment in trade with Japan and received the right to open consulates in ports open to Russians. That is, in general, especially considering the difficult international situation of Russia, the agreement can be assessed positively. Since 1981, the Japanese have celebrated the day of signing the Shimoda Treaty as “Northern Territories Day.”

It should be noted that in fact, the Japanese received the right to the “Northern Territories” only for “permanent peace and sincere friendship between Japan and Russia,” most favored nation treatment in trade relations. Their further actions de facto annulled this agreement.

Initially, the provision of the Shimoda Treaty on joint ownership of Sakhalin Island was more beneficial for the Russian Empire, which was actively colonizing this territory. The Japanese Empire did not have a good one, so at that time it did not have such an opportunity. But later the Japanese began to intensively populate the territory of Sakhalin, and the question of its ownership began to become increasingly controversial and acute. The contradictions between Russia and Japan were resolved by signing the St. Petersburg Treaty.

St. Petersburg Treaty. It was signed in the capital of the Russian Empire on April 25 (May 7), 1875. Under this agreement, the Empire of Japan transferred Sakhalin to Russia as full ownership, and in exchange received all the islands of the Kuril chain.

As a result of the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905 and Treaty of Portsmouth On August 23 (September 5), 1905, the Russian Empire, according to Article 9 of the agreement, ceded southern Sakhalin to Japan, south of 50 degrees north latitude. Article 12 contained an agreement to conclude a convention on Japanese fishing along the Russian shores of the Seas of Japan, Okhotsk and Bering.

After the death of the Russian Empire and the beginning of foreign intervention, the Japanese occupied Northern Sakhalin and participated in the occupation of the Far East. When the Bolshevik Party won the Civil War, Japan did not want to recognize the USSR for a long time. Only after the Soviet authorities canceled the status of the Japanese consulate in Vladivostok in 1924 and in the same year the USSR was recognized by Great Britain, France and China, the Japanese authorities decided to normalize relations with Moscow.

Beijing Treaty. On February 3, 1924, official negotiations between the USSR and Japan began in Beijing. Only on January 20, 1925, the Soviet-Japanese convention on the basic principles of relations between countries was signed. The Japanese pledged to withdraw their forces from the territory of Northern Sakhalin by May 15, 1925. The declaration of the USSR government, which was attached to the convention, emphasized that the Soviet government did not share with the former government of the Russian Empire political responsibility for the signing of the Portsmouth Peace Treaty of 1905. In addition, the convention enshrined the agreement of the parties that all agreements, treaties and conventions concluded between Russia and Japan before November 7, 1917, except for the Portsmouth Peace Treaty, should be revised.

In general, the USSR made great concessions: in particular, Japanese citizens, companies and associations were granted the rights to exploit natural raw materials throughout the Soviet Union. On July 22, 1925, a contract was signed to grant the Japanese Empire a coal concession, and on December 14, 1925, an oil concession in Northern Sakhalin. Moscow agreed to this agreement in order to stabilize the situation in the Russian Far East, since the Japanese supported the White Guards outside the USSR. But in the end, the Japanese began to systematically violate the convention and create conflict situations.

During the Soviet-Japanese negotiations that took place in the spring of 1941 regarding the conclusion of a neutrality treaty, the Soviet side raised the issue of liquidating Japan's concessions in Northern Sakhalin. The Japanese gave their written consent to this, but delayed the implementation of the agreement for 3 years. Only when the USSR began to gain the upper hand over the Third Reich did the Japanese government implement the agreement that had been given earlier. Thus, on March 30, 1944, a Protocol was signed in Moscow on the destruction of Japanese oil and coal concessions in Northern Sakhalin and the transfer of all Japanese concession property to the Soviet Union.

February 11, 1945 at the Yalta conference three great powers - the Soviet Union, the United States, Great Britain - reached a verbal agreement on the USSR's entry into the war with the Japanese Empire on the terms of the return of South Sakhalin and the Kuril ridge to it after the end of World War II.

In the Potsdam Declaration dated July 26, 1945, it was stated that Japanese sovereignty would be limited only to the islands of Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu, Shikoku and other smaller islands, which would be designated by the victorious countries. The Kuril Islands were not mentioned.

After the defeat of Japan, on January 29, 1946, Memorandum No. 677 of the Commander-in-Chief of the Allied Powers, American General Douglas MacArthur, excluded the Chishima Islands (Kuril Islands), the Habomadze group of islands (Habomai) and the Sikotan Island (Shikotan) from Japanese territory.

According to San Francisco Peace Treaty dated September 8, 1951, the Japanese side renounced all rights to South Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands. But the Japanese claim that Iturup, Shikotan, Kunashir and Habomai (islands of the Lesser Kuril Islands) were not part of the Chishima Islands (Kuril Islands) and they did not abandon them.

Further agreements

Joint Declaration. On October 19, 1956, the Soviet Union and Japan adopted a Joint Declaration. The document ended the state of war between the countries and restored diplomatic relations, and also spoke of Moscow’s consent to the transfer of the islands of Habomai and Shikotan to the Japanese side. But they were supposed to be handed over only after the signing of a peace treaty. However, later Japan was forced to refuse to sign a peace treaty with the USSR. The United States threatened not to give up Okinawa and the entire Ryukyu Archipelago to the Japanese if they renounced their claims to the other islands of the Lesser Kuril chain.

After Tokyo signed the Cooperation and Security Treaty with Washington in January 1960, extending the American military presence on the Japanese Islands, Moscow announced that it refused to consider the issue of transferring the islands to the Japanese side. The statement was justified by the security issue of the USSR and China.

In 1993 it was signed Tokyo Declaration about Russian-Japanese relations. It stated that the Russian Federation is the legal successor of the USSR and recognizes the 1956 agreement. Moscow expressed its readiness to begin negotiations regarding Japan's territorial claims. In Tokyo this was assessed as a sign of impending victory.

In 2004, the head of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Sergei Lavrov, made a statement that Moscow recognizes the 1956 Declaration and is ready to negotiate a peace treaty based on it. In 2004-2005, this position was confirmed by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

But the Japanese insisted on the transfer of 4 islands, so the issue was not resolved. Moreover, the Japanese gradually increased their pressure; for example, in 2009, the head of the Japanese government at a government meeting called the Lesser Kuril Ridge “illegally occupied territories.” In 2010 and early 2011, the Japanese became so excited that some military experts began to talk about the possibility of a new Russian-Japanese war. Only the spring natural disaster - the consequences of a tsunami and a terrible earthquake, the accident at the Fukushima nuclear power plant - cooled Japan's ardor.

As a result, the loud statements of the Japanese led to Moscow declaring that the islands are the territory of the Russian Federation legally following the Second World War, this is enshrined in the UN Charter. And Russian sovereignty over the Kuril Islands, which has the appropriate international legal confirmation, is beyond doubt. Plans were also announced to develop the economy of the islands and strengthen Russia’s military presence there.

Strategic importance of the islands

Economic factor. The islands are economically underdeveloped, but they have deposits of valuable and rare earth metals - gold, silver, rhenium, titanium. The waters are rich in biological resources; the seas that wash the shores of Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands are among the most productive areas of the World Ocean. The shelves, where hydrocarbon deposits are found, are also of great importance.

Political factor. The cession of the islands will sharply lower Russia’s status in the world, and there will be a legal opportunity to review other results of the Second World War. For example, they may demand that the Kaliningrad region be given to Germany or part of Karelia to Finland.

Military factor. The transfer of the South Kuril Islands will provide the Japanese and US naval forces with free access to the Sea of ​​Okhotsk. It will allow our potential adversaries to exercise control over strategically important strait zones, which will sharply worsen the deployment capabilities of the Russian Pacific Fleet, including nuclear submarines with intercontinental ballistic missiles. This will be a strong blow to the military security of the Russian Federation.

The Kuril archipelago is a chain of 56 large and small islands of volcanic origin. They are part of the Sakhalin region and stretch from north to south from Kamchatka to the shores of the Japanese island of Hokkaido. The largest of them are Iturup, Paramushir, Kunashir and Urup, only three are inhabited - Iturup, Kunashir and Shikotan, and besides them there are many small islands and rocks that stretch for 1200 km.

The Kuril Islands are interesting, first of all, for their nature. Volcanoes (most of which are active), lakes, thermal springs, varied landscapes and national parks are a real paradise for photographers and other lovers of beautiful views.

There is practically no infrastructure on the islands; transport, hotels and catering are still not easy here, but the unique nature and landscapes compensate for all the inconveniences.

Limited number of participants in the group - only 48 people

How to get there

Getting to the islands of the Kuril archipelago is difficult, but getting out is even more difficult. All Kuril transport - planes and ferries - is dependent on weather conditions, and in the Sea of ​​Okhotsk they are not always favorable. Flight delays are calculated not in hours, but in days, so when planning your trips, it is always worth setting aside a few spare days for possible waiting.

You can get to Paramushir (Northern Kuriles) from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky by boat or helicopter. The South Kuril Islands, which are more popular among tourists, are reached from Sakhalin - by plane from Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk or by ferry from Korsakov.

By plane

Flights from Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk to Yuzhno-Kurilsk on Kunashir Island and to Kurilsk on Iturup Island are operated by Aurora Airlines. According to the schedule, planes depart every day, but in reality they depend on the weather. Travel time is 1 hour 20 minutes one way, ticket prices start from 400 USD round trip. Keep in mind that tickets should be purchased in advance as they sometimes sell out months in advance. Prices on the page are as of November 2018.

On a ferryboat

The ferry "Igor Farkhutdinov" from the port of Korsakov departs on schedule twice a week to the islands of Kunashir, Shikotan and Itupur (this is the same route with several stops). The schedule is very approximate, so you cannot buy tickets online in advance, and sailing times vary from a few hours to a day. Tickets are sold at the ticket office of the Korsakov port in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk; they can no longer be purchased at the port itself.

You can only buy a one-way ticket; return tickets begin to be sold after departure on the ship itself (you need to sign up in the queue to buy).

The ferry takes about 20 hours, the conditions there are not the most luxurious, but quite decent: four- and double-bed cabins, as well as luxury cabins with amenities in the room, there is an inexpensive restaurant and bar on board (prices are already higher there), as well as a small library . Ticket prices start from 2800 RUB per person.

When crossing from Sakhalin to Kunashir there is usually a lot of swaying, and many passengers complain of seasickness, so it’s worth having anti-sickness pills with you just in case.

Obtaining an entry permit

To visit the Kuril Islands you need a pass to the border zone; it is issued by the Sakhalin Coast Guard branch of the FSB in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk. The application can be submitted on weekdays in the morning from 9:30 to 10:30 (you only need a passport and a photocopy of it, which can be made on the spot), the pass will be ready the next morning, there are usually no problems with receiving it.

If you try to come to the Kuril Islands without a pass, at a minimum, you will face a fine (about 500 RUB), and at a maximum, you will be sent back to Sakhalin on the same flight.

The pass is issued only to the islands specified in the application, so you must indicate all the places you intend to visit.

Search for air tickets to the city of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk (the nearest airport to the Kuril Islands)

Weather in the Kuril Islands

The most comfortable weather for traveling around the Kuril Islands is from mid-June to mid-September. June and July have the least rain, and August is considered the hottest month by local standards - around +15 °C. The Southern Kuril Islands are consistently cooler than the northern ones, here in August it is about +10...+12 °C, and in the Northern Kuril Islands at the same time - up to +16...+18 °C due to warm currents.

September and October are the rainiest months on the Kuril archipelago, and the air temperature in October is about +8...+10 °C. Humidity in this region is quite high all year round.

In winter in the south there are frosts down to −25 °C, in the north it is a little warmer - up to −16…-18 °C.

Kuril Islands Hotels

The tourist infrastructure on the Kuril Islands is not developed. There are several small hotels in Kunashir and one in Iturup. The total hotel stock is about 70 rooms, there are no large hotels, and all buildings are low-rise due to the high seismicity of the region.

You cannot reserve a room through popular online booking systems - these hotels are not represented there. You need to book directly by phone (not every hotel has online booking forms or even its own website) or through a travel agency.

The average cost of living is about 3000 RUB per day for a double room. The conditions are quite spartan, but there is a bed and a bathroom in the room.

Cuisine and restaurants

There are few cafes and restaurants on the Kuril Islands; they are all located in cities and usually at hotels. The restaurant in the House of Russian-Japanese Friendship in Yuzhno-Kurilsk, where Japanese tourists often stop, is considered the best.

Also in cities and towns there are small cafes and shops where you can buy delicious seafood snacks: squid, octopus, etc. Prices for everything except fish and seafood are about 20-30% higher than on the mainland.

Entertainment and attractions

The main attraction of the Kuril archipelago is its amazing nature. This is a mountain range that rises from the depths of the ocean and shows only its peaks. There are about 40 active and many extinct volcanoes on the Kuril Islands; the highest active volcano is Alaid on Atlasov Island, 30 km from Paramushir Island in the Northern Kuril Islands. Its height is 2339 m and with its outlines and regular cone shape it resembles the Japanese volcano Fuji.

The volcano island of Chirinkotan is almost inaccessible due to the rocky coast; you can only moor to it by boat in one and only place - at the highest rock. The volcano is constantly smoking, and the island itself is notable for the fact that hundreds of birds gather here for bird markets.

In the northern part of Iturup Island you can see the White Rocks - ridges of a porous structure of volcanic origin stretch for 28 km and are cut by picturesque canyons. The coastline near the cliffs is covered with white quartz and black titanomagnetite sand.

On the island of Kunashir, a warehouse of Japanese left boots has been partially preserved. In the Japanese army, the left and right boots were stored separately to prevent theft, and also so that the enemy could not use them if they discovered the warehouse.

Lakes and thermal springs

The lakes of the Kuril Islands are also famous for their beauty. The mountain lake Osen on the island of Onekotan is especially picturesque. It is round in shape, the banks are framed by steep 600-700-meter cliffs. On the island of Kunashir there is a boiling lake Ponto. The water here seethes, bubbles, and jets of gas and steam whistle out near the shores.

On the slopes of the Baransky volcano there are unique thermal springs and reservoirs, and on the rocky plateau there is an entire geothermal station that generates electricity. There are geysers, lakes, sulfur streams and pools of boiling mud. The most famous hot lake is the Emerald Eye, whose temperature reaches 90 degrees. The Boiling River flows from it with hot and sour water, which breaks off in one place and falls from an 8-meter height as a hot waterfall.

The water in the sea around the islands is crystal clear, and the bottom is covered with vegetation, where fish and other marine life live. Divers will be interested here: in addition to marine life, at the bottom you can see sunken Japanese ships and other military equipment.

Introduction

Conclusion

Introduction

Political conflicts have always played an important and, undoubtedly, controversial role in the world diplomatic community. Disputes over the ownership of territories seem to be particularly attractive, especially if they are as long-standing as the diplomatic conflict between the Russian Federation and Japan over the ownership of the South Kuril Islands. This is what determines relevance of this work.

The course work is written in simple and understandable language for the general public. It has not only theoretical, but also practical value: the material can be used as a reference summary when preparing for an exam in history or the fundamentals of the theory of international relations on the topic of Russian-Japanese relations.

So, we set target:

Analyze the existing problem of belonging to the Kuril Islands and propose possible ways to solve this problem.

The goal determined and specific tasks works:

ñ Collect theoretical material on this topic, analyzing and systematizing the information;

ñ Form the positions of each party in a diplomatic conflict;

ñDraw conclusions.

The work is based on the study of monographs on conflictology and diplomacy, historical sources, news and report reviews and notes.

In order to facilitate the perception of incoming information, we have divided all the work into three stages.

diplomatic conflict Kuril Island

The first stage consisted of defining key theoretical concepts (such as conflict, state border, right to own territory). He formed the conceptual foundation of this work.

At the second stage, we looked at the history of Russian-Japanese relations on the issue of the Kuril Islands; the Russian-Japanese conflict itself, its causes, prerequisites, development. We devoted special attention to the present time: we analyzed the state and development of the conflict at the present stage.

At the final stage, conclusions were drawn.

Chapter I. The essence and concepts of diplomatic conflict in the system of international relations

1.1 Definition of conflict and diplomatic conflict

Humanity has been familiar with conflicts since its inception. Disputes and wars broke out throughout the historical development of society between tribes, cities, countries, and blocs of states. They were generated by religious, cultural, ideological, ethnic, territorial and other contradictions. As the German military theorist and historian K. von Clausewitz noted, the history of the world is the history of wars. And although this definition of history suffers from a certain absolutization, there is no doubt that the role and place of conflicts in human history are more than significant. The end of the Cold War in 1989 once again gave rise to rosy forecasts about the advent of an era of conflict-free existence on the planet. It seemed that with the disappearance of the confrontation between the two superpowers - the USSR and the USA - regional conflicts and the threat of a third world war would sink into oblivion. However, hopes for a calmer and more comfortable world were once again destined to not come true.

So, from all of the above it follows that conflict is the most acute way of resolving contradictions in interests, goals, views, arising in the process of social interaction, consisting in the opposition of the participants in this interaction, and usually accompanied by negative emotions, going beyond the rules and norms. Conflicts are the subject of study of the science of conflictology. Consequently, states that have opposing points of view on the subject of the dispute participate in an international conflict.

When countries try to resolve a conflict diplomatically - that is, without resorting to military action - their actions are aimed, first of all, at finding a compromise at the negotiating table, which can be very difficult. There is an explanation for this: often state leaders simply do not want to make concessions to each other - they are satisfied with some semblance of armed neutrality; Also, one cannot take into account the causes of the conflict, its history and, in fact, the subject of the dispute. National characteristics and needs play an important role in the development of the conflict - together, this can significantly slow down the search for a compromise between the participating countries.

1.2 State border and the right to challenge it by another country

Let us define the state border:

The state border is a line and a vertical surface running along this line that define the limits of the state territory (land, water, subsoil and airspace) of the country, that is, the spatial limit of the action of state sovereignty.

The following statement indirectly follows from the definition - the state protects its sovereignty, and, consequently, its air and land resources. Historically, one of the most motivating reasons for military action is precisely the division of territories and resources.

1.3 Right to own territories

The question about the legal nature of state territory presupposes the answer that there is a state territory from a legal point of view, or more precisely, that there is a state territory from an international legal point of view.

State territory is a part of the Earth's surface that legally belongs to a certain state, within which it exercises its supremacy. In other words, state sovereignty underlies the legal nature of state territory. According to international law, a territory is associated with its population. State territory and its population are necessary attributes of the state.

Territorial supremacy means the complete and exclusive power of a state over its territory. This means that the public authority of another power cannot operate on the territory of a particular state.

Trends in the development of modern international law indicate that a state is free to use its territorial supremacy to the extent that the rights and legitimate interests of other states are not affected.

The concept of state jurisdiction is narrower in scope than the concept of territorial supremacy. The jurisdiction of a state refers to the right of its judicial and administrative bodies to consider and resolve any cases within its borders, in contrast to territorial supremacy, which means the full extent of state power in a certain territory.

Chapter II. Russo-Japanese conflict regarding the Kuril Islands

2.1 History of the conflict: causes and stages of development

The main problem on the way to reaching an agreement is Japan's putting forward territorial claims to the southern Kuril Islands (Iturup Island, Kunashir Island and the Lesser Kuril Islands).

The Kuril Islands are a chain of volcanic islands between the Kamchatka Peninsula and the island of Hokkaido (Japan), separating the Sea of ​​Okhotsk from the Pacific Ocean. They consist of two parallel ridges of islands - the Big Kuril and the Lesser Kuril 4. The first information about the Kuril Islands was reported by the Russian explorer Vladimir Atlasov.

In 1745, most of the Kuril Islands were included in the “General Map of the Russian Empire” in the Academic Atlas.

In the 70s In the 18th century, there were permanent Russian settlements in the Kuril Islands under the command of the Irkutsk tradesman Vasily Zvezdochetov. On the map of 1809, the Kuril Islands and Kamchatka were assigned to the Irkutsk province. In the 18th century, the Russians' peaceful colonization of Sakhalin, the Kuril Islands, and northeastern Hokkaido was largely over.

In parallel with the development of the Kuril Islands by Russia, the Japanese were advancing into the Northern Kuril Islands. Reflecting the Japanese onslaught, Russia in 1795 built a fortified military station on the island of Urup.

By 1804, dual power had actually developed in the Kuril Islands: the influence of Russia was felt more strongly in the Northern Kuril Islands, and that of Japan in the Southern Kuril Islands. But formally, all the Kuril Islands still belonged to Russia.

On February 1855, the first Russian-Japanese treaty was signed - the Treaty on Trade and Borders. He proclaimed relations of peace and friendship between the two countries, opened three Japanese ports to Russian ships and established a border in the South Kuril Islands between the islands of Urup and Iturup.

In 1875, Russia signed the Russo-Japanese Treaty, according to which it ceded 18 Kuril Islands to Japan. Japan, in turn, recognized the island of Sakhalin as completely belonging to Russia.

From 1875 to 1945, the Kuril Islands were under Japanese control.

On February 1945, an agreement was signed between the leaders of the Soviet Union, the USA and Great Britain - Joseph Stalin, Franklin Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, according to which after the end of the war against Japan the Kuril Islands should be transferred to the Soviet Union.

September 1945 Japan signed the Act of Unconditional Surrender, accepting the terms of the Potsdam Declaration of 1945, according to which its sovereignty was limited to the islands of Honshu, Kyushu, Shikoku and Hokkaido, as well as the smaller islands of the Japanese archipelago. The islands of Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan and Habomai went to the Soviet Union.

February 1946, by decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, the Kuril Islands Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan and Habomai were included in the USSR.

On September 1951, at an international conference in San Francisco, a peace treaty was concluded between Japan and the 48 countries participating in the anti-fascist coalition, according to which Japan renounced all rights, legal grounds and claims to the Kuril Islands and Sakhalin. The Soviet delegation did not sign this treaty, citing the fact that it viewed it as a separate agreement between the governments of the United States and Japan.

From the point of view of contract law, the question of ownership of the Southern Kuril Islands remained uncertain. The Kuril Islands ceased to be Japanese, but did not become Soviet. Taking advantage of this circumstance, Japan in 1955 presented the USSR with claims to all the Kuril Islands and the southern part of Sakhalin. As a result of two years of negotiations between the USSR and Japan, the positions of the parties came closer: Japan limited its claims to the islands of Habomai, Shikotan, Kunashir and Iturup.

October 1956, a Joint Declaration of the USSR and Japan was signed in Moscow on ending the state of war between the two states and restoring diplomatic and consular relations. In it, in particular, the Soviet government agreed to the transfer to Japan after the conclusion of a peace treaty of the islands of Habomai and Shikotan.

After the conclusion of the Japan-US Security Treaty in 1960, the USSR annulled the obligations assumed by the 1956 declaration. During the Cold War, Moscow did not recognize the existence of a territorial problem between the two countries. The presence of this problem was first recorded in the 1991 Joint Statement, signed following the visit of the USSR President to Tokyo.

In 1993, in Tokyo, the President of Russia and the Prime Minister of Japan signed the Tokyo Declaration on Russian-Japanese relations, which recorded the agreement of the parties to continue negotiations with the aim of concluding a peace treaty as quickly as possible by resolving the issue of ownership of the islands mentioned above5.

2.2 Current development of the conflict: positions of the parties and search for a solution

In recent years, in order to create an atmosphere at the negotiations conducive to the search for mutually acceptable solutions, the parties have been paying great attention to establishing practical Russian-Japanese interaction and cooperation in the island area. One of the results of this work was the beginning of the implementation in September 1999 of an agreement on the most simplified procedure for visits to the islands by their former residents from among Japanese citizens and members of their families. Cooperation is being carried out in the fisheries sector on the basis of the current Russian-Japanese Agreement on Fisheries in the Southern Kuril Islands of February 21, 1998.

The Japanese side puts forward claims to the southern Kuril Islands, motivating them with references to the Russian-Japanese Treaty on Trade and Borders of 1855, according to which these islands were recognized as Japanese, and also to the fact that these territories are not part of the Kuril Islands, from which Japan refused the San Francisco Peace Treaty of 1951. Japan made the signing of a peace treaty between the two countries dependent on the resolution of the territorial dispute.

The position of the Russian side on the issue of border demarcation is that the southern Kuril Islands passed to our country following the Second World War on a legal basis in accordance with the agreements of the allied powers (Yalta Agreement of February 11, 1945, Potsdam Declaration of July 26, 1945 d) and Russian sovereignty over them, which has the appropriate international legal registration, cannot be doubted.

Confirming its commitment to previously reached agreements on holding negotiations on a peace treaty, including the issue of border demarcation, the Russian side emphasizes that the solution to this problem must be mutually acceptable, not harm the sovereignty and national interests of Russia, and receive the support of the public and parliaments of both countries.

Despite all the measures taken, a recent visit to D.A. Medvedev on November 1, 2010, the disputed territory caused a storm of discontent in the Japanese media; Thus, the Japanese government appealed to the Russian president with a request to abandon the event in order to avoid aggravation of relations between the countries.

The Russian Foreign Ministry refused the request. In particular, the message from the diplomatic department noted that “the President of Russia independently determines travel routes within the territory of his country,” and advice on this matter “from the outside” is inappropriate and unacceptable7 .

At the same time, the restraining influence of the unresolved territorial problem on the development of Russian-Japanese relations has significantly decreased. This is due, first of all, to the strengthening of Russia’s international positions and Tokyo’s understanding of the need to develop Russian-Japanese relations, including trade and economic cooperation, against the backdrop of the progressive growth of the Russian economy and increasing the investment attractiveness of the Russian market.

Conclusion

The problem remains a problem. Russia and Japan have been living without any peace treaty since World War II - this is unacceptable from a diplomatic point of view. Moreover, normal trade and economic relations and political interaction are possible subject to the complete resolution of the Kuril Islands issue. A vote among the population of the disputed Kuril Islands may help bring the final point, because first of all, you need to listen to the opinion of the people.

The only key to mutual understanding between the two countries is the creation of a climate of trust, trust and more trust, as well as broad mutually beneficial cooperation in a variety of areas of politics, economics and culture. Reducing the mistrust accumulated over a century to zero and starting to move towards trust with a plus is the key to the success of a peaceful neighborhood and tranquility in the border maritime areas of Russia and Japan. Will current politicians be able to realize this opportunity? Time will tell.

List of sources used

1.Azriliyan A. Legal dictionary. - M.: Institute of New Economics, 2009 - 1152 p.

2.Antsupov A.Ya., Shipilov A.I. The meaning, subject and tasks of conflictology. - St. Petersburg: Peter, 2008 - 496 p.

.Biryukov P.N. International law. - M.: Yurist, 2008 - 688 p.

.Zuev M.N. Russian history. - M.: Yurayt, 2011 - 656 p.

.Klyuchnikov Yu.V., Sabanin A. International politics of modern times in treaties, notes and declarations. Part 2. - M.: Reprint edition, 1925 - 415 p.

.Turovsky R.F. Political regionalism. - M.: GUVSHE, 2006 - 792 p.

7.http://www.bbc. co. UK

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To the roots of the problem

One of the first documents regulating Russian-Japanese relations was the Treaty of Shimoda, signed on January 26, 1855. According to the second article of the treatise, the border was established between the islands of Urup and Iturup - that is, all four now islands that Japan claims today were recognized as the possession of Japan.

Since 1981, the day of the conclusion of the Shimoda Treaty in Japan has been celebrated as “Northern Territories Day”. Another thing is that, relying on the Shimoda Treaty as one of the fundamental documents, Japan forgets about one important point. In 1904, Japan, having attacked the Russian squadron in Port Arthur and unleashed the Russo-Japanese War, itself violated the terms of the treaty, which provided for friendship and good neighborly relations between states.

The Shimoda Treaty did not determine the ownership of Sakhalin, where both Russian and Japanese settlements were located, and by the mid-70s a solution to this issue was ripe. The St. Petersburg Treaty was signed, which was assessed ambiguously by both sides. Under the terms of the agreement, all the Kuril Islands were now completely transferred to Japan, and Russia received full control over Sakhalin.

Then, as a result of the Russo-Japanese War, according to the Treaty of Portsmouth, the southern part of Sakhalin up to the 50th parallel went to Japan.

In 1925, a Soviet-Japanese convention was signed in Beijing, which generally confirmed the terms of the Portsmouth Treaty. As you know, the late 30s and early 40s were extremely tense in Soviet-Japanese relations and were associated with a series of military conflicts of varying scales.

The situation began to change by 1945, when the Axis powers began to suffer heavy defeats and the prospect of losing World War II became increasingly clear. Against this background, the question of the post-war world order arose. Thus, according to the terms of the Yalta Conference, the USSR pledged to enter the war against Japan, and Southern Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands were transferred to the Soviet Union.

True, at the same time the Japanese leadership was ready to voluntarily cede these territories in exchange for the neutrality of the USSR and the supply of Soviet oil. The USSR did not take such a very slippery step. The defeat of Japan by that time was not a quick matter, but it was still a matter of time. And most importantly, by avoiding decisive action, the Soviet Union would actually be handing the situation in the Far East into the hands of the United States and its allies.

By the way, this also applies to the events of the Soviet-Japanese War and the Kuril Landing Operation itself, which was not initially prepared. When it became known about the preparations for the landing of American troops on the Kuril Islands, the Kuril landing operation was urgently prepared within 24 hours. Fierce fighting in August 1945 ended with the surrender of the Japanese garrisons in the Kuril Islands.

Fortunately, the Japanese command did not know the real number of Soviet paratroopers and, without fully using their overwhelming numerical superiority, capitulated. At the same time, the Yuzhno-Sakhalin offensive operation was carried out. Thus, at the cost of considerable losses, Southern Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands became part of the USSR.