From: mrc@Tomobiki-Cho.CAC.Washington.EDU (Mark Crispin)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
Subject: the four northern islands and why Russia wants to keep them
Date: 15 Sep 92 02:08:20 GMT
Article-I.D.: Tomobiki.MS-C.716522900.662824084.mrc
Organization: University of Washington
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII
Mime-Version: 1.0

At the height of Dai-Nippon Teikoku's power, Japanese territory
included the following territories that are now part of Russia:
	Karafuto (southern Sakhalin), including the cities of Maoka
		(Kholmsk) and Shikuka (Poronaysk)
	Kuril Islands (Chishima Retto^ or Kuril^skiye Ostrova)

Karafuto, along with Cho^sen, Manchukuo, and Taiwan, was an important
part of Imperial Japanese industrial might, and many of signs of this
remain.  Buildings and bridges still sport faded kanji carved into the
stonework.  Large parts of infrastructure built by the Japanese remain
on Sakhalin; Sakhalin uses Japanese-gauge rail instead of the mainland
Russian gauge.  Sakhalin has a fair number of people of Ainu and
Korean descent.

Historically, the Kuriles were Japan's first line of defense against
aggression from the north and east.  Most of the Kuriles are desolate
volanic rocks, and have never been regularly inhabited.  They were
used by Ainu shamans as part of initiation rituals; the shaman-to-be
was taken to the island and tied in a place where he would breathe the
poisonous volcanic gasses.  After a few days of hallucinations his
people would come back for him, and if he was still alive he would be
considered a full shaman.

Southern Sakhalin and the Kuriles were in contention between Czarist
Russia and Dai-Nippon Teikoku, which was settled by a treaty in which
Japan give up souther Sakhalin for all of the Kuriles.  A few years
later, Japan seized southern Sakhalin back for itself.

Japan has given up its claim to southern Sakhalin and to most of the
Kuriles, including the large islands of Uruppu (Urup) and Paramushiro
(Paramushir).  All of these are territories which were once in dispute
between Japan and Russia.

Japan claims the four southernmost Kuriles: the Habomai Islands (more
like rocks than islands), Shikotan (a rather small island), Kunashiri
(Kunashir), and Etorofu (Iturup).  Historically, Czarist Russia never
claimed these islands; this was the southernmost boundary demanded by
the Czars.  Japan's position is that its territorial loss in its
defeat in WWII should not include these southern islands, since Russia
had never claimed them before.

The WWII documents in question are ambiguous:
 . the Yalta Agreement states `The Kuril islands shall be handed over
   to the Soviet Union' in return for the USSR joining the war on the
   side of the Allies
 . The Potsdam Proclamation states: `Japanese sovereignty shall be
   limited to the islands of Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu, Shikoku, and
   such minor islands as we [the President of the USA, the President
   of the ROC, and the Prime Minister of Great Britain; later
   subscribed by the Premier of the Soviet Union] determine.' 

The question comes in the intent of the Yalta Agreement; does `the
Kuril islands' mean `all the islands in the Kuril island chain' or
does it mean `those islands of the chain called "Kuril islands" by
Russia'?  Furthermore, Russia, as the successor to the Soviet Union,
undoubtably has the right as a subscriber to the Potsdam Proclamation
to determine Japanese sovereignty over these `minor' islands.

The 1956 treaty between Japan and the former USSR promised Japan that
the Habomais and Shikotan would be returned, but this has not happened
yet.  Shikotan and the Habomais are relatively unimportant both in
size and position.  The delay in their return to Japan has been mostly
due to Japan's refusal to give up its claim to the other two,
Kunashiri and Etorofu.

Kunashiri and Etorofu have a major strategic importance that belies
their small size.  Historically, the Kuriles were Japan's first line
of defense against aggression from the north and east.  The loss of
Uruppu, Paramushiro, and the other minor Kuriles severely weaken this
defence; the loss of Etorofu and Kunashiri totally eliminate it.
Etorofu and Kunashiri are the gateway to Hokkaido^; Kunashiri is less
than half the distance from Hokkaido^ than Sakhalin.

These two islands are of great strategic importance to Russia as well.
Kunashiri and Sakhalin offer two gateways into Hokkaido^.  But more
importantly, the occupation of these two islands seals the entrance
into the Sea of Okhotsk.  The north-east coast of Hokkaido^ is the
only non-Russian territory to the Sea of Okhotsk.  Nothing can sail in
or out of the Sea of Okhotsk without being seen by the watchful eyes
of Kuznetsovo over the La Perouse Strait between Hokkaido^ and
Sakhalin or by the garrisons on the Kuriles.

Returning Shikotan and the Habomais to Japan would not affect Russia's
lock on the Sea of Okhotsk, although it would leave Kunashiri
surrounded by Japanese held territory.  However, returning Kunashiri
and Etorofu to Japan would open up the Sea of Okhotsk.  Japanese (and
other) vessels could enter and exit the sea without Russian
observance.  Instead of a few fishing boats launched from
north-eastern Hokkaido^, Russia would have to face having its 47-year
private lake becoming an international sea.

This is what Russia has to lose -- and it is significant.  It's going
to cost Japan a huge amount of yen to get those islands back, given
the immense cost to Yeltsin's prestige and grip on power that the loss
of these islands would entail.

 -+-+-   | -++-  --|--   /__ Mark ("Gaijin") Crispin `Gaijin!  Gaijin!'
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Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan