The Relationship Between Japan And Russia On The "Northern Territories Dispute" After The Collapse The Union Of Soviet Socialist Republics And Eastern Europe(1991-2010)

The Russo-Japanese relationship is a very important area of research among theinternational relations after World WarⅡ. No matter in history or in the future, Japan andRussia are two important countries in term of Northeast Asia and international relation.However, after Second World War, since the formation of “cold war”, the Soviet Unionhas not yet signed in San Francisco Conference which is dominated by the USA,thatmeans, Russia and Japan have not signed peace treaty, according to International Law,the two countries are still not establish of diplomatic relations yet. After the collapse ofthe Soviet Union and Eastern Europe upheaval in20th century, international patternwitnessed great changes, as Russia became the legal successor to the Soviet Union.Russo-Japanese relationship has been changed significantly. But,“the northern territory”is still an important barrier influencing the development of relations between the twocountries, and led to the failure of signing the peace treaty.After the war the territorial disputes between Japan and Russia is mainly around thefour islands of the South Kuril Islands. Especially after Eastern Europe upheaval, and thecollapse of the Soviet Union, the territorial claims the Japanese government proposedmeans “the Northern Territories”. Therefore, the ownership of the four islands becomesan important factor, and the solution of the problem is deeply influenced by domesticpolitical and international environment of the two countries, especially when the peoplehave strong view of national territorial integrity.This article takes the changes in the history of the territorial disputes as the mainfocus, based on the vast number of historical facts, especially on the basis of policy of the20th century liberal Democratic Party of Japan to the Northern Territory of Russia.Additionally, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the way three consecutive Russianleaders dealt with Japan’s territorial claims and adjustment of the relationship with Japan.Besides, from t the domestic analysis of the problems, and the prospective view of thefuture relation between two countries, we can deduce that territorial dispute is the keyfactor that determines the relation between Japan and Russia.