Joint Declaration by USSR-Japan 1956

The Northern Territorial Dispute, also known as the Kuril Islands Dispute, is an ongoing border dispute between Japan and Russia that originated in the aftermath of World War II. The two states have advanced disparate legal positions regarding the status and ownership of the islands. The islands in question are four islands in the Kuril Archipelago, situated to the north of Hokkaido. The islands in question are Iturup, Kunashiri, Shikotan, and Habomai Islands. Japan asserts that these four islands rightfully belong to them and that the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) illegally occupied them in the aftermath of World War II. Japan is pursuing its legal rights in accordance with the Atlantic Charter’s principle of non-extension of frontiers. Conversely, Russia acknowledges only an unresolved border demarcation issue and claims that the matter be settled through a peace treaty to be concluded between the two states. This study aims to examine the approaches taken by both Japan and Russia in the dispute over the Kuril Islands and their respective proposals for solution from the perspective of International Relations.