Politics Japan protests Putin's first visit to disputed Etorofu Island

[thomas]

PM Takaichi criticised Russian President Vladimir Putin's first visit to the disputed island of Etorofu on Thursday, calling the trip "absolutely unacceptable". Russian state media reported that Putin had visited Iturup, known in Japan as Etorofu (択捉島), one of four Russian-held islands Japan claims as its Northern Territories (北方領土).

Takaichi told reporters that Putin's visit had further worsened Japanese sentiment towards Russia. She maintained that the islands were an inherent part of Japanese territory, both historically and under international law. Japan and Russia have been locked in the territorial dispute for decades. Soviet forces occupied the four islands in the closing days of the Second World War, and the disagreement remains the main reason Japan and Russia have never concluded a formal post-war peace treaty.

The Kuril Islands sit between Hokkaido in northern Japan and Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula. Four of the southernmost islands are claimed by Japan, which calls them the Northern Territories. Russia administers them. At the end of World War Two, the Soviet Union annexed the island chain and deported around 17,000 Japanese residents. During his visit, Putin sampled fish roe and spoke to island locals, Russian state media reported. Speaking from the prime minister's office on Thursday, Takaichi said his trip "wounds the feelings of the Japanese people" and is "incompatible with Japan's consistent position on the Northern Territories". "I hope that the Russian side will take the gravity of this matter very seriously," she said. Earlier that day, Japan's foreign minister Toshimitsu Motegi said the islands were "inherently Japanese territory both historically and under international law, and the Government of Japan strongly protests this visit".

Japan PM Takaichi says Putin's visit to disputed Kuril islands 'absolutely unacceptable'

It was the first time the Russian leader had visited the Kuril islands, according to state media.

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