Problems of the historical past in Japan's relations with the countries of East Asia and Russia. Lessons for Russia

Russian Science Foundation grant No. 19-18-00017 ● Institute of Oriental Studies Russian Academy of Sciences

Work and results

Results in 2019

Members of the research team published the following chapters in the monograph “A History of Russo-Japanese Relations. Over Two Centuries of Cooperation and Competition” from Brill's Japanese Studies Library (Volume 66), indexed by Scopus:

  • Grishaev S. Russo-Japanese Relations in the 18th and 19th Centuries: Exploration and Negotiation
  • Grishachev S., Datsyshen V. Allied Intervention in the Russian Civil War and Japanese Troops in Russia's Far East, 1918-1922
  • Streltsov D. The Territorial Issue in Russian-Japanese Relations: An Overview

These chapters present an analysis of such complex and sensitive issues of these relations as the problems of the first contacts between the two countries in the XVIII – XIX centuries, the issue of Japan's participation in the military intervention in the Russian Far East in 1918-1922, as well as the territorial problem between Japan and Russia, including its origins, historical development and its current state.

Members of the research team have published the following articles in the academic journals indexed by Web of Science:

  • Datsyshen V. G., Ipeeva A. A. Japanese presence in the Russian Far East on the eve and at the beginning of the Second world war// Japanese studies in Russia.   No. 2. P. 109-126.
  • Dyachkov I. V. Collective memory and politics: ‘Comfort women’ in current relations South Korea and Japan // Japanese studies in Russia.   No. 4.
  • Kulneva P. V. The Place of Historic Memory in the Perception of China by Japanese Society// Japanese studies in Russia.   No 4.
  • Pak B. B. Forcing Japanese protectorate over Korea and Russian diplomacy efforts to restore Korean sovereignty// Japanese studies in Russia.   No. 4.

The authors concluded that the problems of historical memory remain to be one of the most important factors in current international relations in East Asia. Asfaras Japan is concerned, the memory of the Japanese colonial expansion and its aggression on the mainland in the first half of the twentieth century still retains its urgency, rendering a strong negative impact on its relations with South Korea. However, at least in some cases (for example, in Japan-Taiwanese relations), the factor of historical memory of the period of the Japanese rule, on the contrary, plays a positive role.

As for the problems of historical memory in Russo-Japanese relations, they are also largely related to the aggressive policy of Japan in the first half of the XX century and the border conflicts between the USSR and Japan on the eve of the Second World war. Among such problems, it is also necessary to highlight the issue of modern assessment of the results of Japanese rule on the territories of the Russian Far East (in particular, on Sakhalin), which were for several decades put under the control of Japan.