Along the Seas and Lands of Far East. Sakhalin Oblast Map

Some territories of Sakhalin Oblast (four islands, the southern ones of the Kuril archipelago) are claimed by Japan. I tried hard to learn a complicated history of Russia - Japan relationships, and here is the result:

Sakhalin and Kuril Islands has been claimed by both Russia and Japan over the course of the 19th and 20th centuries. This has led to bitter disputes between the two countries over control of the region. Main Treaties:

- The Treaty in 1855 established the border between Iturup and Urup. This border confirmed that Japanese territory stretched south from Iturup and Russian territory stretched north of Urup. Sakhalin remained a place where people from both countries could live.

- In 1875 Treaty of Saint Petersburg, when Japan ceded Sakhalin to Russia in exchange for the Kuril Islands. - In 1905 after the Russo-Japanese War, Russia and Japan signed the Treaty of Portsmouth, which resulted in the southern part of the island passing to Japan; South Sakhalin was administrated by Japan with the capital Toyohara, now known as Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk.

- In August 1945, the Soviet Union took over the control of Sakhalin and Kuril Islands-

- On September 8, 1951 San Francisco Peace Treaty, between Japan and part of the Allied Powers, was officially signed by 48 nations. This treaty served to officially end World War II. Article 2 stated: “Japan renounces all right, title and claim to the Kurile Islands, and to the southern part of Sakhalin and the islands adjacent to it over which Japan acquired sovereignty as a consequence of the Treaty of Portsmouth 1905. However, that treaty did not explicitly approve Russian sovereignty over southern Sakhalin. From Japan's official position, Sakhalin's attribution has not yet been determined, and it is marked as No Man's Land on Japanese maps. Nevertheless, Japan currently has a Consulate-General in Sakhalin's capital city. Furthermore, Japan currently claims that at least some of the disputed islands (four islands) are not and have never been a part of the Kuril Islands, but are The Northern Territories of Japan. Thus, they are not covered by the treaty. The Soviet Union did not sign the Peace Treaty

- On October 19, 1956, Japan and the Soviet Union signed a Joint Declaration providing for the end of the state of war, and for restoration of diplomatic relations between USSR and Japan. Also Joint Declaration stated: "The U.S.S.R. and Japan have agreed to continue, after the establishment of normal diplomatic relations between them, negotiations for the conclusion of a peace treaty” However, no peace treaty has been signed, the Kuril islands still remain under Russian administration

 - The Japanese who had been living in South Sakhalin before mostly repatriated to Japan, but at least one-third of Koreans were refused repatriation; stuck on the island, they and their descendants became known as the Sakhalin Koreans..

- On 2004, Russians Sergei Lavrov  with Vladimir Putin, visited Japan. Lavrov said that Russia is ready to have territorial talks with Japan on its basis. Then in 2010 Medvedev visited Japan. But, nothing have happened yet