Japan's government said Monday it will keep working to find a solution with Russia to the decades-long territorial dispute over a group of islands off Hokkaido, despite deteriorating bilateral relations. The statement came as the two countries mark the 70th anniversary of the Joint Declaration, the document that once laid the groundwork for the return of some of the disputed islands.
According to Japanese officials, Tokyo maintains its position that the dispute should be resolved through negotiations and is keeping dialogue channels open with Moscow, even though relations between the two countries have been unfavorable in recent times. The 1956 Joint Declaration between Japan and the then-Soviet Union opened the prospect of a partial return of the island group, but that provision has yet to be fully implemented.
The Japanese government's restatement of its commitment on the 70th anniversary shows that the territorial issue remains one of the main outstanding points in Japan-Russia relations, and reflects Tokyo's intention to keep to a diplomatic approach at a time when bilateral ties have seen little progress.
