ABSTRACT
The series of wars fought between 1904 and 1945 left a legacy of deep suspicion and mistrust in Japan and Russia that the opposing sides of the Cold War were able to use for maximum benefi t in their respective propaganda campaigns. Although the fi ghting subsided after 1945, the rhetoric at times was every bit as harsh and the hostility remained just below the surface in both nations. There were periods of brief rapprochement during the Cold War that refl ected the pre-war pattern of fl uctuating relations, but by the early years of the twenty-fi rst century Japan and Russia were no closer to normalization than they had been in 1945.
