Yomiuri wrote that Deputy Foreign Minister Akiba is expected to meet with his Russian counterpart in Moscow next week to discuss the details of the agreed-upon launch of “joint economic activities” on the Northern Territories and expanded “visa-free” travel to the contested islets by Japanese journalists and others. 

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe completed three significant diplomatic events at the end of last year: a meeting with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump in November, his 16th meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and his visit to Pearl Harbor. The Japan-Russia summit meetings held for two days from Dec. 15 were historic in various ways.   The Prime Minister’s Office [Kantei]….Read more

On Jan. 25, during his visit to the Russian Far East, Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs Deputy Director-General for European Affairs Bureau Toshihiro Aiki held a meeting with Governor of the Sakhalin Region Oleg Kozhemyako in Yuzhno Sakhalinsk. The meeting aimed to build a communication mechanism with the Sakhalin Region that has jurisdiction over the Northern Territories after the two governments reached….Read more

Three Russian bombers have flown near Japanese territory, prompting the Air Self-Defense Force to scramble fighter jets, the Defense Ministry’s Joint Staff office said Wednesday.   The flights of the Tupolev Tu-95 bombers on Tuesday did not violate Japanese airspace. Two of them flew in a circuit surrounding the Japanese archipelago, moving from the Sea of Japan to the East….Read more

Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida decided to replace senior officials in the European Affairs Bureau and the Russian Division, seeing Russian President Vladimir’s visit to Japan last December as marking the end of a chapter in Japan’s policy toward Russia. Since a key issue from now on will be how to bridge the gap between the legal positions of Japan and….Read more

On Jan. 19, the government held a meeting at the Prime Minister’s Office [Kantei] of the government task force formed to respond to the UK’s decision to leave the European Union (chair: Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Koichi Hagiuda). In response to UK Prime Minister Theresa May’s announcement on Jan. 17 that her nation will leave the EU’s single market, Hagiuda….Read more

On Jan. 17, State Minister for Foreign Affairs Nobuo Kishi met in Moscow with Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Igor Morgulov. Drawing on the December meeting between Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Russian President Vladimir Putin, the two officials consulted on joint economic activities between the two nations in the Northern Territories and the simplification of….Read more

On Jan. 17, Alexander Krutikov, deputy minister for the development of the Russian Far East, indicated that Russia would continue to develop infrastructure on the Northern Territories as Russian territory, saying that Russia will move forward with the development of the Chishima Islands, including the Northern Territories, “as decided by the Russian government in 2015.”   He said this in….Read more

With the aim of concluding an economic partnership agreement, Japan and European lead negotiators resumed discussions on Jan. 17 in Brussels. The participants will concentrate on negotiating outstanding issues that include tariffs on agricultural products and automobiles. The Japanese government hopes to reach a broad agreement on essential components of an agreement by February.   Meanwhile, an LDP group,  “Parlitmentarians’ League for Measures to Deal….Read more

Nikkei and Sankei wrote that the MSDF announced on Tuesday that it will conduct joint exercises with the Russian Navy for search and rescue operations and ship inspections on Jan. 20-22 in waters off Maizuru in Kyoto Prefecture and Wakasa in Fukui Prefecture. This will be the first time in two years and three months for the two nations to….Read more