Japan Isn’t Muddling Over Iturup: Strong Protest After Putin’s Visit

Russian President Vladimir Putin spent the afternoon on Iturup—known in Japan as Etorofu—checking out local fish roe and chatting with islanders, according to Russian media. The stop‑over triggered a sharp reaction from Japan’s foreign minister, who declared that the islands are historically Japanese territory and that the government strongly protests the visit.

The Kuril archipelago sits roughly midway between Japan’s Hokkaido and Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula. The southern four islands are still claimed by Japan as the “Northern Territories,” while Russia administers them and uses the largest of the islands, Iturup, as a major military air base.

The root of the dispute stretches back to the end of World War II when the Soviet Union seized the islands and removed roughly 17,000 Japanese residents. Because the islands were never formally returned, Moscow and Tokyo never signed a peace treaty after the war, leaving a lingering diplomatic rift.

Last month, a joint naval patrol featuring Spanish, Chinese and Russian ships moved through a strait near the Kuril islands, hinting at a shift in regional alliances. Russia also held large military drills nearby last year, prompting Japan’s condemnation of the escalating tensions.