A History of Russo-Japanese Relations Over Two Centuries of Cooperation and Competition

659 Pages·2019·2.732 MB·English

by  Dmitry V. Streltsov, Shimotomai Nobuo

A History of Russo-Japanese Relations
Brill’s Japanese Studies Library
Edited by
Joshua Mostow (Managing Editor)
Caroline Rose
Kate Wildman Nakai
VOLUME 66
The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/bjsl
A History of
Russo-Japanese Relations
Over Two Centuries of Cooperation and Competition
Edited by
Dmitry V. Streltsov and Shimotomai Nobuo
LEIDEN | BOSTON
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Streltsov, D. V. (Dmitrii Viktorovich), editor. | Shimotomai,
 Nobuo, 1948– editor.
Title: A history of Russo-Japanese relations : over two centuries of
 cooperation and competition / edited by Dmitry V. Streltsov and Shimotomai Nobuo.
Description: Leiden ; Boston : Brill, [2019] | Series: Brill’s Japanese
 studies library, ISSN 0925-6512 ; Volume 66 | Includes bibliographical
 references and index. |
Identifiers: LCCN 2019011781 (print) | LCCN 2019017098 (ebook) |
 ISBN 9789004400856 (E-book) | ISBN 9789004400009 (hardback : alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Russia—Foreign relations—Japan. | Japan—Foreign
 relations—Russia. | Soviet Union—Foreign relations—Japan. |
 Japan—Foreign relations—Soviet Union. | Russia (Federation)—Foreign
 relations—Japan. | Japan—Foreign relations—Russia (Federation)
Classification: LCC DK68.7.J3 (ebook) | LCC DK68.7.J3 H57 2019 (print) |
 DDC 327.47052—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019011781
Typeface for the Latin, Greek, and Cyrillic scripts: “Brill”. See and download: brill.com/brill-typeface.
issn 0925-6512
isbn 978-90-04-40000-9 (hardback)
isbn 978-90-04-40085-6 (e-book)
Copyright 2019 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands.
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Contents
Foreword ix
Iokibe Makoto
Foreword xiii
Anatoliĭ V. Torkunov
Preface xvii
Dmitry V. Streltsov and Shimotomai Nobuo
Notes to Readers xx
Notes on Contributors xxi
part 1
The Legacy of the 18th and 19th Centuries: from Hierarchical and
Ethnocentric Foreign Relations to a Western Model of Equal International
Relations 3
Ikuta Michiko
Russo-Japanese Relations in the 18th and 19th Centuries: Exploration and
Negotiation 18
Sergey V. Grishachev
part 2
The Diplomatic Dimension of the Russo-Japanese War: the Portsmouth
Conference and Its Aftermath 45
Tosh Minohara
Russia and Japan in the Late 19th to 20th Centuries: the Road to War
and Peace 63
Igor V. Lukoyanov
part 3
Japanese-Russian Relations after the Treaty of Portsmouth: between
Friendship and Suspicion 83
Kurosawa Fumitaka
vi Contents
Russo-Japanese Relations from 1905 to 1916: from Enemies to Allies 101
Yuriĭ S. Pestushko and Yaroslav A. Shulatov
part 4
World War I, Revolution, and Intervention: from the Perspective of the
Japanese Diaspora in Russia 121
Hara Teruyuki
Allied Intervention in the Russian Civil War and Japanese Troops in Russia’s
Far East, 1918–1922 137
Sergey V. Grishachev and Vladimir G. Datsyshen
part 5
Japanese-Russian Relations in the 1920s: Struggles between Anti-Soviet and
Pro-Soviet Forces 155
Tomita Takeshi
Soviet-Japanese Relations in the 1920s: from Hostility to Coexistence 179
Vladimir A. Grinyuk, Yaroslav A. Shulatov, and Anastasia S. Lozhkina
part 6
Japan’s Policy toward the Soviet Union, 1931–1941: the Japanese-Soviet Non-
aggression Pact 201
Tobe Ryōchi
Soviet-Japanese Relations after the Manchurian Incident, 1931–1939 218
Anastasia S. Lozhkina, Yaroslav A. Shulatov, and Kirill E. Cherevko
part 7
Wartime Relations between Japan and the Soviet Union, 1941–1945 241
Hatano Sumio
Contents vii
Soviet-Japanese Relations during World War II: the Origins of Territorial
Dispute 259
Andrey I. Kravtsevich
part 8
The Reality of the Siberian Internment: Japanese Captives in the Soviet Union
and Their Movements after Repatriation 305
Tomita Takeshi
The “Маnchurian Blitzkrieg” of 1945 and Japanese Prisoners of War in the
Soviet Union 334
Alekseĭ A. Кirichenko and Sergey V. Grishachev
part 9
From Peace to the Restoration of Diplomatic Relations: Soviet-Japanese
Territorial Relations, 1951–1970 355
Kouno Yasuko and Shimotomai Nobuo
Postwar Relations between the USSR and Japan from the Late 1940s to the
1950s 376
Sergey V. Chugrov
part 10
Soviet-Japanese Relations and the Principle of the “Indivisibility of Politics
and Economics,” 1960–1985 403
Ozawa Haruko
Soviet-Japanese Relations from 1960 to 1985: an Era of Ups and Downs 419
Viktor V. Kuz’minkov and Viktor N. Pavlyatenko
viii Contents
part 11
The Rise to Power of Mikhail Gorbachev and the Policy of “Expanding
Equilibrium” 443
Shimotomai Nobuo
Perestroika and Russian-Japanese Relations, 1985–1991 459
Konstantin O. Sarkisov
part 12
From the Tokyo Declaration to the Irkutsk Statement, 1991 to 2001 483
Tōgō Kazuhiko
Russian Policy toward Japan, 1992–2001: from Over-optimism to Realism in
Developing Relations 499
Alexander N. Panov
part 13
Japanese-Russian Relations in the 21st Century, 2001–2015 521
Kawaraji Hidetake
Russia and Japan at the Beginning of the 21st Century: an Era of Untapped
Potential 535
Oleg I. Kazakov, Valeriĭ O. Kistanov, and Dmitry V. Streltsov
part 14
The “Northern Territories” Problem: a Continuing Legacy of the San Francisco
System 557
Kimie Hara
The Territorial Issue in Russian-Japanese Relations: an Overview 577
Dmitry V. Streltsov
List of Names 607
Index 615
Foreword
Iokibe Makoto
I visited Moscow in December 2011, and during this trip Anatolii ̆V. Torkunov,
rector of Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO), told me
about the published results of a joint historical research project between Russia
and Poland that had adopted a “parallel history” approach. I was particularly
intrigued to learn of this because several scholarly groups in Japan had also
attempted to conduct such parallel history studies with their colleagues in
China and Korea, with varying degrees of success.
Parallel histories do not seek to reach agreement on a common history,
rather they aim to present different perspectives on various aspects of history.
Although this might appear a relatively easy task in that experts are simply
asked to offer scholarly opinions, in actual fact it is quite challenging. Scholars
on both sides develop a certain historical perspective based, in part, on a sense
of strong pride in the history of their own country. It requires a high level of
intellectual maturity to be able to listen to and understand another viewpoint.
This is especially true when seen against the backdrop of recent events such
as invasions and occupations, and when calls for justice might overshadow
the need for intellectual open-mindedness. While patriotism is important,
the challenge of a parallel history such as the present study is to balance
this patriotism with a respect for each other’s country. An analogy might be
drawn to Akutagawa Ryūnosuke’s 1922 short story Yabu no naka (In a Grove),
which was later made into the film Rashomon by the famed Japanese director
Kurosawa Akira. In the tale, three men discuss a murder in a mountain forest,
but interestingly, they all have completely divergent views. The expression
“Might makes right” might well be overstating the case; in essence, when there
is no intellectual basis for the acceptance of diversity in a multicultural world
and there is a tendency toward narrow-minded nationalism, the likelihood
of conflict is inevitable. But the opportunity to examine history from the
standpoint of another country and its historians is not only enjoyable but also
gives rise to parallel history studies as demonstrated in this publication.
Another aspect that all historians must share is a respect for well-grounded
facts and rationale. While any country possesses its own values and its own
narratives about its own history, in any joint historical research there must
be a mutual, deferential respect for empirical evidence in order to avoid
descending into a war of words that can surround national histories. Initially,
I contemplated whether such lofty aims would be possible when embarking
x Iokibe
on this joint Russo-Japanese historical research project. I grew increasingly
confident of the success of this collaborative endeavor when I discussed the
issue of Japanese prisoners of war (POWs) in Siberia post-WW II with my
Russian colleagues. There have been a number of incidents in the past that
have caused the Japanese people to distrust Russia, such as the Soviet Union’s
breeching of the Japanese-Soviet Neutrality Pact, the entry into war against
Japan, or the continued attacks against Japan even after its surrender on
August 15, 1945, that resulted in the seizure of considerable territory. But the
incident that the Japanese people found unforgivable was the capture and
forced relocation of 600,000 Japanese living in Manchuria and elsewhere to
the Soviet Union where they were made to work under inhumane conditions,
with tens of thousands dying as a result.
In the essays by Japanese scholars, I anticipated a stinging indictment of
the actions by the Soviet Union and conversely a defense of past events in
the contributions by Russian scholars. Yet quite the opposite was true. Tomita
Takeshi’s essay on Russo-Japanese relations in the 1920s in Part 5 did not
circumvent criticism, instead it presented a balanced and measured view based
on facts. Aleksei A. Kirichenko and Sergey V. Grishachev’s piece on Japanese
POWs in Part 8 did not apologize for the actions of the Soviet Union; in fact,
it was even more critical, succinctly interpreting the events using factual
information. I came to see the Russian authors as independent scholars in
their own right, individuals filled with reason and conscience, and not swayed
by the points of views of their respective governments.
If the issue of POWs in Siberia was the greatest problem for the Japanese,
for the Russians the largest disappointment vis-à-vis Japan in historical terms
was the latter’s intervention in Siberia during the Russian Civil War. Yuriĭ
S. Pestushko and Yaroslav A. Shulatov in Part 3 clearly demonstrate in their
essay on Russo-Japanese relations from 1905 to 1916 that following the Russo-
Japanese War of 1904–1905 Japan and Russia deepened their cooperative rela-
tions through a series of agreements in 1907, 1911, and 1916, to the point that
they appear to approach the status of allies. This situation was similar to the
situation after the Pacific War between Japan and the United States, in which
the two former enemies came to understand each other better and developed
a strong friendship and a cooperative relationship. Japan and Russia followed
this same trajectory after the Russo-Japanese War, which made Japan’s inter-
vention against the Bolshevik’s revolutionary forces all the more bitter. Japan’s
occupation of large swathes of Siberia later became one reason for Joseph
Stalin’s entry into war against Japan near the conclusion of World War II and a
rationale used by the Soviet Union for the attempted occupation of Hokkaido
once the war ended.