ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on to the countries' continuing territorial dispute. It assesses underlying sources of tension, including Japan's relationship with the United States (US), issues related to historical memory, and economic considerations. So long as US–Russian tensions remain, Japan's especially close relationship with the US is likely to impede improved relations between Tokyo and Moscow, including progress on the territorial dispute. The chapter reviews the efforts of Prime Minister Abe Shinzo to take a "new approach" to relations with Russia and assesses their prospects for success. Abe's "new approach" seeks to promote bilateral economic cooperation in eight key areas, including health care, energy and urban development. Japan–Russia relations have existed in a state of cold economics, cold politics. The term "Northern Territories" is a post-war invention that only started to be used by Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) in 1964.
