Koizumi May Reopen Territory Row with Russia

Junichiro Koizumi, Japan’s prime minister, on Wednesday threatened to reopen a long-standing diplomatic row with Russia when he said he might sail close to four Russian islands that are claimed by Japan.

Mr Koizumi said he wanted to “inspect” the Russian-held territory, either from a boat or a helicopter, next month in response to a request from grandchildren of Japanese citizens who were thrown off the islands at the end of the second world war.

The islands, which are administered from Sakhalinsk in Russia’s Far East, are known as the Southern Kuriles in Russia and the Northern Territories in Japan. Because of the long-rumbling dispute over sovereignty of the islands, now home to about 15,000 Russians, Tokyo and Moscow have never signed a peace treaty to bring a formal end to second world war hostilities.

Moscow is likely to view the planned inspection by Mr Koizumi with suspicion. This month, Alexander Losyukov, Russia’s ambassador to Tokyo, said any attempt to visit would be “unproductive”.

Mr Koizumi’s attempt to refocus attention on the dispute comes at a time of flux in Ruso-Japanese business ties, when Japanese companies are investing billions of dollars in oil and gas projects on the island of Sakhalinsk.

Tokyo is also pressing Moscow to build an oil pipeline from Siberia to the port of Nahodkha, near Vladivostok, within easy reach of Japan. In return, it would help finance the $10bn project and encourage its companies to invest in eastern Siberia, a depopulated region that Russia is keen to develop.

A senior Japanese diplomat said the economic relationship “could not go to the next level” unless progress was made over the disputed islands. Tokyo is trying to link the two issues as arrangements are being made for the state visit of Vladimir Putin, Russia’s president, to Tokyo early next year.

Matsumi Mizuma, deputy chairman of the Association for the Return of the Northern Territories, said it was right to connect the two issues. “The idea is that without solving this territorial matter, we won’t be able to develop our relationship,” he said. “I think the Japanese strategy of linking these issues is good, and we have been urging the prime minister to visit the islands.”

Toshio Koizumi, chairman of the League of Inhabitants of the Kurile and Habomai Islands, was more cautious, saying a visit could provoke an angry response from Moscow. Mr Koizumi, with no relation to the prime minister, lived on one of the islands until 1945.

He said: “The prime minister is good at negotiating with strong-willed countries like Russia and North Korea, but this will take time. He should not go now.”

The Japanese prime minister has built a reputation for diplomatic flourishes aimed at promoting Japan’s foreign policy goals more aggressively. Most notably, he became the first Japanese leader to visit Pyongyang when he went in 2002 and again this year to negotiate the release of Japanese citizens kidnapped by North Korea 25 years ago.

Mr Koizumi has ruled out landing on the islands themselves, instead saying he will “inspect” them from a distance. Since 1964, Japanese citizens have sporadically been able to visit graveyards on the island thanks to a special arrangement with Moscow.