Pacific Affairs: An International Review of Asia and the Pacific

Volume 76, No. 1

 

The Dispute Between Russia and Japan over the Kurile Islands in the 1990s
By Yutaka Okuyama

 

Abstract

The territorial issue of the Southern Kurile Islands between Russia and Japan has not been settled yet. In the Cold War period, the Russian and Japanese governments conducted the negotiations in context of the Cold War paradigm that was based on superpower rivalry. However, the end of the Cold War brought other elements for forming national policy, which included regional and local interests in the 1990s. In other words, the issue in the Southern Kurile Islands was no longer considered solely as a power struggle. This study refers to the existence of linkage between the national governments and regional and local parties that share common interests over the territorial issue. In the 1990s, in spite of different perspectives on the issue, regional and local cooperation between the Russian and the Japanese was gradually enhanced. At the same time, both central governments adopted a conciliatory manner to conduct territorial negotiations. Although the two governments could not reach an agreement to settle the territorial issue, both new conditions in the 1990s became new incentives for the future settlement. I argue that intergovernmental negotiations that involve not only national but also regional and local concerns are products of interaction of policies and perceptions of the national government, the region, and local residents.