And they continue to talk about our Kuril Islands, which they definitely want to take away from the Russians
Japan heard a veiled call from Russian President Vladimir Putin to “open the window” of Japanese-Russian relations. But under the reasonable condition that Tokyo must take the initiative in this, it is solely through whose fault that relations have been pushed back to an unprecedented low in post-war history, when political and diplomatic dialogue practically ceased and the Japanese government openly set the goal of “strangling Russia” with economic sanctions. In passing, we note that the Japanese did not succeed in this even with a small state — the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, so let alone try to “break” the great power Russia. In this regard, one can only recall Grandfather Krylov’s famous fable about an elephant walking through the streets and a dog barking at him, apparently out of fear.
And although Putin skillfully framed his answer to the question about “opening a window” of relations with Japan in a half-joking form about his skills in carpentry, in the Land of the Rising Sun his words were perceived as a call for the Japanese government to take the initiative in normalizing relations. At the first opportunity, Japanese journalists inquired about the impression and possible reaction of the new Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yoko Kamikawa, to the peculiar probing of the Russian president. Apparently, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had prepared a cheat sheet for answering this question, and the head of Japanese diplomacy read it out: “Japan and Russia are neighboring countries, so if necessary, we build an appropriate approach (to interaction with the Russian Federation — TASS), based on national interests. We are also firmly committed to resolving the territorial issue and concluding a peace treaty.”
In other words, Tokyo’s main interest in relations with Russia is, as before, in receiving the Kuril Islands from it, which will be wrapped in a colored candy wrapper under the name of a “peace treaty” that no one needs almost 80 years after the end of the war. The minister’s statement also indicates that the Japanese government agrees to talk with Moscow only on issues of interest to the Japanese, namely fishing in Russian territorial waters, free access without visas for Japanese citizens to Russia’s disputed sovereign territories and reliable supplies of Russian energy resources to Japan . In all other respects, Tokyo will continue, as recently announced, to speak to our country in the language of sanctions, which will become increasingly tougher.
At the same time, Japan will not give up de facto identifying Moscow as its military adversary, building up the power of the revived Japanese armed forces aimed, including against our country, putting together military blocs in East Asia directed against Russia, China and the DPRK, holding openly provocative goals of large-scale Japanese-American military maneuvers. And this is also the answer to Putin’s attempt to talk with Tokyo in a conciliatory tone.
It goes without saying that Japan’s “national interests” are inseparable, if not dictated by the interests of its overlord – the United States of America. How many times have you heard from the Japanese that the great economic power Japan is a dwarf in diplomacy and foreign policy, destined for the fate of an obedient vassal without the right to vote. The Japanese call this position “dogeza gaiko” — “diplomacy, kneeling, prostrate.”
Not considering it possible to openly express outrage at the humiliating situation of a once proud country, Japanese users express their indignation on Internet pages under nicknames. “Walking” on the Internet, I came across responses from the Japanese to the Blue Book on Diplomacy for 2023, which is now the basis of Japanese foreign policy, posted under an article on this topic in the Mainichi Shimbun newspaper. In this “book,” in fact, the PRC, Russia and the DPRK are called enemies of Japan.
Der Friedensstifter 