ABSTRACT
Introduction In one of the strangest anomalies in international relations today, Japan and Russia have yet to sign a peace treaty and relations between the two countries have not been fully normalised, although more than six decades have passed since the end of the Second World War. The primary reason for the stalemate in bilateral relations is a dispute over the ownership of a group of islands, known to the Russians as the South Kuril Islands and to the Japanese as the Northern Territories (Hopp™ Ry™do), which the Soviet Red Army seized during the closing stages of the Second World War. The Japanese government has consistently argued that it is willing to conclude a peace treaty only if Russia agrees to return the four islands. For its part, Russia has steadfastly refused to transfer all four islands to Japan.
