Japan's National Identity and Foreign Policy: Russia as Japan's 'Other'

摘要

Even though more than six decades have passed since World War II, Japan has still not concluded a formal peace treaty, which it was obliged to do with all its neighbours. The territorial dispute between Japan and Russia over the islands of Etorofu, Kunashiri, Shikotan and the Habomai archipelago, commonly known in Japan as the Northern Territories, has acted as an impediment in the conclusion of a peace treaty between the two countries. These islands are located in close proximity to Hokkaido, the northern-most Japanese island and have been under the de facto control of the Soviet Union (now Russia) since 1945.