chedca writes:

"These referendums were seen as democratically sound by the Japanese prime minister.

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That was ex-Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama (he was Prime Minister for 9 months in 2009), and he spoke only for himself.

The Japanese government disassociated itself from his remarks.

His brother, Kunio Hatoyama, said in a television program the former prime minister should have been deprived of his passport.

Vice President Masahiko Komura said the trip was “regrettable because it is incompatible with the Japanese position that it will never recognize any attempt to change the status quo by force.”

Japan and other Group of Seven nations — Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and the United States — condemned Russia’s annexation of Crimea last March, calling the action a violation of international law.

Japan, and the rest of the G7, don't recognize the results of a referendum  held at the point of Russian guns.

Accuracy counts.