May 20, 2020

Japan reasserted its claim to sovereignty over the disputed Northern Territories in its annual foreign policy Diplomatic Bluebook on May 19, after deleting mention of the issue last year in an attempt to appease Russia.

The 2019 version dropped all references to whether the four islands off the coast of the main northern island of Hokkaido belonged to Japan and only emphasized the importance of negotiating a peace treaty with Russia.

A peace treaty that would formally end hostilities dating to World War II is regarded as a crucial step in winning Russian agreement to return some or all of the islands seized by Soviet forces at the close of the war.

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http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/13388556