Photo/Illutration The Northern Territories lie off the eastern coast of Hokkaido. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

Japan revived its stronger wording concerning the disputed Northern Territories after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, essentially ending Tokyo’s policy of avoiding expressions that could antagonize Moscow in negotiations for the isles.

Asked about the Northern Territories at the March 7 Upper House Budget Committee, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said: “They are ‘Japan’s inherent territory’ as well as ‘territory over which Japan possesses sovereignty.’ In either case, it is a matter that the government has to deal with.”

The Northern Territories are four small islands off the coast of the main northern island of Hokkaido that were seized by the Soviet Union in the closing days of World War II.

At the March 8 Upper House Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi repeated Kishida’s words that the islands were Japan’s “inherent territory.”

“We have also used wording from a diplomatic perspective that these are islands over which Japan possesses sovereignty,” Hayashi said.

The “softer” words were part of the policy regarding the Northern Territories taken by former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

At a 2018 meeting in Singapore, Abe and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to accelerate negotiations for a bilateral peace treaty based on the 1956 Joint Declaration between Japan and the former Soviet Union. That declaration clearly states that two of the Northern Territories, the Habomai islets and Shikotan island, would be handed over to Japan after a peace treaty is concluded.

After that agreement, Abe was careful to avoid using “inherent territory” in referring to the Northern Territories when responding to Diet questioning or at news conferences.

That policy was reflected in the Diplomatic Bluebook published annually by the Foreign Ministry.

Wording that clearly stated that the Northern Territories belong to Japan was included in every edition up to the 2018 version. But the reference was dropped in the 2019 version and has never been revived.

In February 2019, the Abe administration was asked if it still considered the Northern Territories as Japan’s inherent territory.

The response approved by the Abe Cabinet was, “We will withhold an answer because of the possibility of hurting future negotiations with Russia.”

After its formation in October, the Kishida Cabinet received a similar question and approved the same response given by the Abe Cabinet two years earlier.

But Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has drastically changed the international scene and all but eliminated hopes for progress in Tokyo-Moscow negotiations over the Northern Territories.

Japan has gone along with Western nations’ economic sanctions imposed against Russia.

On Feb. 27, three days after the invasion, Kishida told reporters, “The situation does not allow for talking about progress in peace treaty negotiations” with Russia.

When Hayashi was asked by reporters about the “inherent territory” wording, he said, “Based on the situation of being unable to talk about progress in peace treaty negotiations, we are saying that (the Northern Territories) are Japan’s inherent territory as well as islands over which Japan possesses sovereignty.”

Hayashi added that Russia’s occupation of the Northern Territories was illegal.

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