ABSTRACT
It is often argued that contemporary Japanese perceptions of the USSR/ Russia are a product of centuries-long historical animosity compounded with more recent memories of Soviet actions in the summer of 1945, namely, the Soviets’ treacherous revocation of the neutrality treaty, the occupation of Japanese territory and the prolonged detention of Japanese PoWs taken in Manchuria in the final phase of the war (in Japan usually referred to as the “Siberian internment” (siberia yokuryu-)) (for example, Mendel 1961: 200, Morley 1962: 51, Hitchcock 1971: 280-1, Falkenheim 1977-78: 604 and Ogawa 1987: 158). The territorial dispute, which continues to play central role in bilateral relations, will be examined in the next chapter. It will show that the dispute and related perceptions and affective valuation of the dispute among Japanese decision makers and the broader public emerged only after a decade had passed since the actual events transpired.1
