[Tintin Storm]

Discussion of the ownership of the South Kuril Islands has been conducted since the middle of the last century. The Japanese side claims to the islands of Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan and a number of uninhabited islands of the Lesser Kuril Ridge. These islands were part of the USSR following the Second World War, but Japan continues to claim its rights to them. Moscow is adamant in this matter: Russian sovereignty over these islands has a corresponding international legal formulation and, therefore, is beyond doubt.
In mid-October 2016, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced that he was proposing President Vladimir Putin to take responsibility and jointly promote negotiations to resolve the issue of the peace treaty.
In early February 2017, the Council for joint economic activities with Russia in the Southern Kuril Islands was established in Japan. It was led by Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida. It was noted that the new body will consider cooperative projects in fisheries, seafood, tourism, environmental protection and health in the southern Kuril Islands.
Japan's ambitions for the Kuril Islands are growing every day. Accordingly, non-governmental organizations are stepping up their activities aimed at "the return of primordially Japanese territory". Rallies, public actions, conferences involving high-ranking officials, leaflets, appeals to Russia "to give away illegally occupied Kuril Islands" is only an incomplete list of manipulations made by the "Ligas" and "Associations" for the return of the so-called "Northern Territories".
Already for a long time, Japan has funded the activities of all kinds of NGOs (primarily the Japanese Fund) and government agencies (Japanese centers in Russia) from the state budget. Tokyo pursues a balanced, long-term line for the formation of a positive image of Japan among Russians and promotes the image of "Russian guilt for post-war sins" and the idea of "the need to return the islands to Japan" to the public consciousness of a wide range of the population of Russia, especially public opinion leaders. The Japanese Foundation promotes Japanese research abroad, grants and invites foreign scholars to Japanese universities and research centers, conducts cultural exchanges.
As for the Russian side, according to the statement of Russian President V.Putin, he does not consider the Kuril Islands as a disputable territory.

[ThirdTerm]

Japan's ambitions for the Kuril Islands are growing every day. Accordingly, non-governmental organizations are stepping up their activities aimed at "the return of primordially Japanese territory". Rallies, public actions, conferences involving high-ranking officials, leaflets, appeals to Russia "to give away illegally occupied Kuril Islands" is only an incomplete list of manipulations made by the "Ligas" and "Associations" for the return of the so-called "Northern Territories".
Already for a long time, Japan has funded the activities of all kinds of NGOs (primarily the Japanese Fund) and government agencies (Japanese centers in Russia) from the state budget.

The Cabinet Office directly funds and controls these major NGOs related to the Kuril Islands, which were were really active in promoting the idea that all four islands legitimately belong to Japan in the past. But I think the Abe government is more realistic about the prospect of getting four islands back, which seems to be an impossible task, and Russia only has to return two smaller islands to sign a peace treaty with Japan, which would satisfy both countries.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed Friday to continue negotiating toward economic cooperation in a disputed set of islands, with Abe also calling for Moscow's support in pressuring North Korea to change its ways.

The two leaders met here for about an hour on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, attended only by interpreters for roughly 15 minutes.

When Putin visited Japan last December, he and Abe agreed to seek a special framework for joint economic activity on the Russian-administered Southern Kurils, which Japan calls the Northern Territories, that left the aside the issue of the islands' status. Abe told reporters afterward Japan's government aimed to "advance steadily, step by step, toward solving the problem of returning the islands and signing a peace treaty" with Russia.

https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics-Econom ... ed-islands