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Russo- Japan Negotiation Conflict: Problems of the Past Living on Today

Shelli Da’Neal

Negotiation and Deal Making

Suzann Banie
March 28, 2010
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ENTERTAINMENT BUSINESS MASTER OF SCIENCE DEGREE

Russo- Japan Negotiation Conflict: Problems of the Past Living on Today

Long ago our world was the stage for countless wars and battles over land as

powerful nations sought to expand their sphere of influences by conquering less powerful

nations. Russia used its power to take over China along with the rest of the Western powers

during the time. Japan arose and emerging nation and fought with Russia over Manchuria,

the Krill Islands, Korea, and other locations in Asia. In 1904 the Russo-Japan war broke out

after the Japanese launched a surprise attack on Port Arthur, Russia assumed the Japanese

would not go to war because at the time Russia had the strongest army in the world. This

clash of global Titians took great tolls on both armies as the war dragged on, until the

Japanese defeated Russia thus, setting up the unprecedented chain of reactions that would

come to fallow and still effect our world today.

On September 5th, 1905, the Treaty of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, brought to a close

the nineteen-month war between imperial Japan and Tsarist Russia… The war, however,

was immensely expensive and had been fought on a vast scale... The war also had

extraordinary consequences for the modern world. For Russia, the unbroken series of

military reverses, notably the catastrophic destruction of the Baltic fleet at Tsushima in

May 1905, dealt a long-term blow to the authority of the monarchy and military. For

Japan, the unintended result of its military successes was to make it the hero, albeit an

ambiguous one, of anti-colonial nationalists from Africa to Asia... Thus, the road to Pearl

Harbor may be said to have begun in 1905 (Lone, 2005).

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On top of the catastrophic damage done during the war Russia developed a deep-rooted

hatred and resentment for the Japanese and used its connections with Germany to get a more

favorable deal in the Treaty of Portsmouth. “Along with Germany the United States and Great

Britain were all third party players in negotiations leading up to treaty. The United States had

great interest in the Philippines and President Roosevelt granted Japan dominance over Korea in

exchange for freedom of action in the Philippines” (Treaty of Portsmouth, 2008). Due to its

alliance with Great Britain, Japan was able to become the dominant power in East Asia because

Britain had the Anglo-Japanese Treaty cover all of East Asia. Now if any country tried to invade

an East Asian country Japan and Britain would go to war against that country. Russia was no

longer a world power and civil upheavals broke out across the nation. While Japan was now left

unchecked to become the strongest Imperial power thought Asia, which would come back to

haunt the US in WWII with Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor.

Now the tides had changed and Imperial Japan adopted a new ideal of colonizing the rest

of Asia before Western nations could. During WWII Japan occupied most of Asia but after

losing the war Japan found it’s self-having to face grudges from the past during negotiations

along with strong feelings of hatred and resentment from the United States. So along with a

complete surrender by Japan at the end of the war, Japan had to give up all colonized territories,

occupied lands, military, its emperor had to sign that he was not a god, the kitirestu were broken

up, and Japan had to allow US occupancy. It was at this time that Russia was able to regain land

from Japan as well as take revenge for the Treaty of Portsmouth.

In 1875, Japan gave up Sakhalin in return for Russian withdrawal from the Kuriles, and

the Japanese held the islands until the end of World War II. The Yalta Conference ceded

the islands to the USSR, and Soviet forces occupied the chain in September 1945. Japan
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has challenged the Soviet right to the Kuriles, and demanded the return of the four

southernmost islands, which had been treated as part of Hokkaido prior to World War II.

The failure to resolve the impasse has been a major stumbling block in Russo-Japanese

relations since the end of the war (Kuril Islands, 2009).

Interest

Today Russia and Japan are still on poor terms due to Yalta Conference because of

disputes over the rightful owner ship of the Kurile Islands. Matloff, in his report on Tiny Islands

Prelude To Russia-Japan Deal, explains that Japanese influence over the Kurile Islands has been

able to grow to such an large extend that, at one point there were speculations that Japan and

Russia would have joint economic control over the islands (Maltoff, 1988). This would be highly

favorable for the Japanese because they have interest in reclaiming the Kurile Islands because the

Japanese believe that they were originally a part of ancient Japan.

In 2000 Russia and Japan finally held a three daylong negations to discuss a possible

solution to issues of the Southern Kuriles. BBC reported, “Japan had proposed that its borders be

expanded to include the islands”[ CITATION Put00 \l 1033 ]. Japan has gone out of its way to

try and improve relations with Russia in order to make the negotiations more favorable to their

interest. Russia claims that it will not simply give over the land to Japan but they are willing to

hear out Japanese proposals. BBC reported, “While, Russia is proposing that an interim peace

deal be struck that sidelines the territorial dispute for now”[ CITATION Put00 \l 1033 ].

Positions

Both Russia and Japan have very strong and proud nationalist cultures were at one point
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in time their military strength was the pride of their nations. For Russia the humiliation of its

defeat in 1905 still plays a large role in dealing with negotiations in regards to Japan and the

Southern Kurile. Regaining lands from Japan served a moral boost for Russia, thus when Japan

brought up its rights to reclaim the islands the Russian media and public demanded a firm

response from its government that would reflect their unwillingness to give up the land they had

gained from the Yalta Conference. The pride of the Russian people is very similar to that of the

Japanese people. “Russia is proposing that an interim peace deal be struck that sidelines the

territorial dispute for now” [ CITATION Put00 \l 1033 ].

For the Japanese their crushing defeat at the end of WWII marked the end of their

imperial power and forced the Japanese people to have to quickly modernize in order to regain

power. The Japanese have as strong sense of pride and honor, thus losing what they feel to be

part of their national heritage as they claim a historic right to Kurile Islands based upon a map of

ancient Japan. Culturally the terms of Japanese unconditional surrender at the end of WWII

drastically changed the Japanese way of like and today Japan is a very peaceful nation and as

been going out of the way to improve relations with Russia while asking for the Kurile Islands

back.

Both countries have had a bitter past against each other due to the heavy amount of

causalities lost during the wars against each other as well as both side have felt cheated by the

other during negotiations, treaties, and other diplomatic polices. At the same time Russia and

Japan have become more and more economically dependent upon each other as the years have

gone by, thus both countries have become tiered of the land dispute issues dragging on for over

50 years. A poll conducted by Yomiuri Shimbun, asking the opinions of the roughly 10,000
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Russian residents on the islands in 1993 showed that,

Only one-fifth of respondents said they were firmly against the return of the islands to

Japan. One-third said all four islands should be given back without any more fuss.

Another third said Russia should begin by handing back Shikotan and the Habomai

cluster--the smallest islands in the group--to show good faith (Stuck in the Sand, p32-32).

Both countries are now more willing to talk and work with each other toward a peaceful

solution so that both countries can benefit. However both countries hold strong claims and

emotions over the territory dispute.

What Went Well

On Monday September 4, 2000 Japan and Russia were finally able to sign a document

states that they would have economic co-operation in the Kurils[ CITATION Put00 \l 1033 ]. In

order to welcome President Vladimir Putin the Japanese Prime Minster Yoshiro Mori present

him with a robotic dog that when stroked would sing that Russian national anthem and can speak

a few Russian phrases. Also his wife was dressed in a traditional Japanese kimono as the

Japanese reached out to her to share their culture with her and make her feel

welcomed[ CITATION Put00 \l 1033 ].

What Went Wrong

Both parties are unwilling to bend on there positions due to an issue of control. Russia

feels that it will lose face or its people will have less respect for the government is they give up

the islands due to media coverage of the negotiations. The president of Russia does not want to
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see another revolution like the one that came after the Russo-Japan War. For Russia maintaining

the control over the islands is important as an economic resource, as well as a political and

historic one. Having this type of pressure can quickly cause emotions to run high and thus ending

in both parties not being able to resolve the issue. This issues of land dispute plays into

autonomy, affiliation, and recognition, as losing or gaining the territory would change the out

look of these three core components in negotiations for each country. Thus this makes the

situation more delicate as both leaders want to be seen as a hero in the eyes of their people as

well as economically savvy and in control of the situation. This breaks down to struggle on

power and dignity for both countries as they do not was to lose their position as a global power.

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