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Cover of Between Tokyo and Moscow

Between Tokyo and Moscow

the history of an uneasy relationship, 1972 to the 1990s

By Joachim Glaubitz

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Publish Date

1995

Publisher

University of Hawaii Press

Language

eng

Pages

308

Description:

Tension and mutual suspicion have marked the relationship between Russia and Japan since official contacts were established in the mid-nineteenth century. Similar perceptions predominate today in spite of the overthrow of Communism in Russia and the end of the Cold War. Indeed resurgent Russian nationalism makes an accommodation with Japan less likely over issues such as the status of the Kurile islands, which the Soviet Union seized at the end of Second World War and which are regarded by the Russian military as non-negotiable. Japan demands that the Kuriles must be returned before full relations are established and Japanese aid and investment can start to flow. Russia, however, fears the strategic threat posed by Japan and the huge economic power at its disposal.