Phantom pains of the empire. Whose lands Tokyo sees as its own

51

The Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who made the decision to resign, among many other unfinished business, leaves to his successor the problem of the “northern territories,” as our Kuril Islands are called in Tokyo. No matter how hard this political long-liver, who managed to hold on to his post for about eight years, fought, he did not manage to move this territorial dispute off the ground - at least in the direction that suits the Japanese side. However, like a number of similar conflicts that the Land of the Rising Sun has with other countries.

The Kuril Islands, lost after their defeat in World War II, are by no means the only "sore spot" for Tokyo. The state, which has pursued an imperial expansionist policy for centuries, today does not get tired of claiming its rights to a number of territories, which it continues to consider as its own, despite the opinion of other countries. For the most part, these are small plots of land lost in the sea, but having a rather high value for one reason or another.



Basically, similar disputes are waged between Japan and its closest neighbors in the Asia-Pacific region. The stumbling block in relations between Tokyo and Seoul is the islands in the Sea of ​​Japan, which the Koreans call the Abandoned (Dokdo), and the Japanese call Bamboo (Takeshima). On international nautical maps, these geographic features are marked as Liancourt rocks. In Seoul, opponents are blamed for the fact that they seized these islands before capturing all of Korea in general, while Tokyo refers to the decisions of the United States, in 1951, when concluding the San Francisco Peace Treaty, dividing the land and waters there between Asian countries as their own.

Be that as it may, in 1952, Korean troops landed on Dokdo (Takeshima), thereby securing their rights by force. Today there is a lighthouse and a small contingent of police guarding it to see if the Japanese are coming. As a matter of fact, the islands are of value only as a starting point for the territorial waters of the countries leading disputes and their exclusive economic zones, as well as as a "gateway" to the South China Sea. However, there is evidence of the presence of large deposits of gas and oil in those places.

At present, the conflict is being conducted exclusively in the information and diplomatic plane, sometimes reaching completely anecdotal episodes. Okay, it was only about such moments as the official protest expressed two years ago by Tokyo over the raising of the Korean flag with the image of the disputed islands at one of the hockey matches. But a similar diplomatic demarche taken in all seriousness over the chocolate image of this country on the mango dessert served during the international summit! It looks like an overkill.

In turn, China has very significant claims to Japan. First of all, they relate to the Senkaku archipelago (Japanese version) or Diaoyu (Chinese name) in the East China Sea. Eight little islands sticking out of the water, the total area of ​​which barely exceeds six square kilometers, and the passions are very serious! The reason, again, is in the nearby richest hydrocarbon deposits and the presence in the local water area of ​​significant reserves of commercial marine life. The parties poke each other under the nose of various ancient maps and manuscripts, trying to prove whose ancestors set foot on the mentioned islands first.

The end-point of the dispute is not in sight, while in Beijing they have recently begun to put forward similar claims regarding the Ryukyu archipelago, seeing in it “primordially Chinese lands”. The fierce conflict around the island of Okinotori also continues. No, in the Celestial Empire they do not consider it their own, but they flatly refuse to recognize it as an island. They claim that this is just a rock, and Tokyo's attempts to establish its own exclusive two-hundred-mile economic zone around it have absolutely no basis.

Among other things, Tokyo has “land issues” in Antarctica. At one time (to be precise, in 1939), the Japanese side officially announced that it was claiming a rather large "piece" of the local territories: from 80 to 150 degrees West longitude. After defeat in 1945 with the conclusion of the relevant international peace treaties, Japan formally renounced these claims. However, today they are hinting that it would be better to give these ice-covered lands and waters (which no state claims anyway): after all, only high Japanese technologies can make it possible to get to the wealth hidden in their depths.

As you can see, the country is small, but it has big claims. At one time, many in the world feared that the amendments to the law on the Self-Defense Forces adopted in 2015 by the Japanese parliament might prompt some in Tokyo to try to use force to satisfy them. Fortunately, this has not happened yet.
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  1. +4
    31 August 2020 10: 09
    They would have picked up the drooling, otherwise they would have let it go ...
    1. -4
      31 August 2020 10: 34
      Mal bug, yes smelly.
      1. -1
        31 August 2020 10: 36
        The smaller the mongrel, the more ambition ...
        Vogon and small cart ...
        1. +1
          31 August 2020 11: 30
          The smaller the mongrel, the more ambition ...


          2018 Japanese GDP of $ 4,9 Trillion. To call the Japanese small mongrels is very ъъъъ ..... let's say arrogantly. They have both a budget and a tradition to fuel their ambitions.
          1. +10
            31 August 2020 11: 40
            Quote: Keyser Soze
            2018 Japanese GDP of $ 4,9 Trillion

            only it doesn't hurt, he helps them in their ambitions ... as they were under the occupation of the states, they will remain ...
            1. +2
              31 August 2020 15: 35
              Mandatory territory. In a good sense of the word.
        2. +4
          31 August 2020 15: 12
          Quote: Mouse
          The smaller the mongrel, the more ambition ...
          Vogon and small cart ...

          "Shavka" is not at all small and one of the world leaders. True, under strong American influence.
          As for territorial claims, everything is natural and according to science: the classics of Marxism argued that, during the period of imperialism, territorial disputes escalate and often lead to redistribution wars.
      2. -1
        31 August 2020 19: 58
        Mal bug, yes smelly.


        Nikolashka II also thought so, to remind how it ended for us, and in particular for the 2nd Pacific squadron?
        Yeah, klpik, yeah. laughing
        1. 0
          6 September 2020 17: 59
          There, the British lion took the lead in loans, ships, weapons, and training.
  2. +21
    31 August 2020 10: 09
    As you can see, the country is small, but it has big claims.

    The population of Japan is 126,5 million people, almost like in the Russian Federation. So I wouldn't call this country small
    1. +8
      31 August 2020 10: 26
      In addition, there are real ambitions. That is why they develop their Naval Forces, and very well and purposefully. The photo is supposedly a helicopter carrier. Build such a colossus to transport 8 helicopters ?! But it is worth strengthening the deck flooring and sticking a springboard, and now the small aircraft carrier is ready. Equip it with something like the F-35C and you get not a weak striking unit. And I think there are four such "helicopter carriers". They also seem to have very good submarines.
      1. +2
        31 August 2020 12: 51
        Quote: LIONnvrsk
        Equip it with something like the F-35C and you get not a weak striking unit.

        F-35B (that is, VTOL aircraft), not the F-35C, for the "C" version you need not only reinforced deck flooring, but also a catapult, but there is no place to cram it there.
        1. -1
          31 August 2020 17: 22
          You are right, of course F-35B, but the meaning of the comment Lionnvrskand this does not change, the samurai have something to support their ambitions. More than enough against Korea, but the Americans are unlikely to allow their charges to grapple. Against China, of course, not enough, but there the Americans "must" immediately help. And against us there is more than enough and only nuclear weapons to help us, unfortunately ... I would like that "unfortunately" was only for now ... and we can rectify the situation.
          1. 0
            31 August 2020 17: 27
            Quote: volodimer
            And against us there is more than enough and only nuclear weapons to help us, unfortunately ... I would like that "unfortunately" was only for now ... and we can correct the situation.

            And I have never denied that our allies in the Far East will at most be the DPRK and the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, at least the DPRK, because they (DPRK) have nowhere to go, just if we arrange a mass suicide by exploding a dirty bomb.
            1. +1
              31 August 2020 17: 38
              There are no complaints against you, corrected in the case. hi Whether the DPRK and DRV will be our allies in the event of a local conflict with Japan, there is still a big question. I think that now we do not have to wait for help, even decorative help. We are not strong enough, and we are "helped" only when we are confident in our victory.
              1. +2
                31 August 2020 17: 42
                Yes, I understand, now the situation is like with the same "brothers" at the end of the 19th century, it's bad - help from a Russian brother, and then in 1941 they marched as part of the SS.
                1. +2
                  31 August 2020 17: 47
                  Exactly ! And therefore
                  ... Russia has only two allies, the army and the navy ...

                  Russia has no right to be weak.
                  1. +2
                    31 August 2020 17: 55
                    you know, I once talked with one special officer (three big stars retired), and so he said with bitterness: "Alexander, I bitterly realize that we have been merged ... (if the ellipsis is voiced there will be a permanent ban), but I am proud that I served at a time when one half of the ball was afraid of us, and the other half began to "walk in big", only from one of our dialects in half a voice "...
                    1. +2
                      31 August 2020 18: 11
                      My senior colleagues told me that when a South Korean patrol boat tried to stop their scholars for inspection, they raised the flag and replied that 'the ship' ( laughing ) belongs to the USSR Navy and does not intend to stop ... YUKi retired. The scientist was built according to a similar design as the hydrographic vessels of the Navy. From weapons, what is there, what is there: a pistol in the captain's safe. Yes, we were either feared or respected then. drinks
                      And now even North Koreans do not hesitate to detain ships flying the flag of the Russian Federation, if they entered their territorial waters in order to shelter from the storm.
              2. -2
                3 September 2020 10: 01
                And in the war with Japan, we don't need allies.
                The DPRK and the DRV do not decide anything, only the DPRK can act as a proxy for a tactical nuclear strike ...
                China, if it does intervene, is in its own interests and without us.

                And we may not even need to fight, it will be enough for us to conduct a demonstrative nuclear test ... The memory of the Japanese is strong, it will suspend them, specifically!
                Well, if they even climb after that, then the military-political leadership of the Russian Federation is there to resolve the issues of war and peace.
    2. +9
      31 August 2020 11: 09
      Quote: Andrey from Chelyabinsk
      So I wouldn't call this country small

      As well as ambitions, the forces and means of the fleet were reinforced.
      Remark to the topic of the article-
      Red Banner Pacific Fleet
      Fleet composition: 58 surface ships and 20 submarines (as of May 2020)
      Japan Self-Defense Forces
      Fleet composition: 154 ships
      Plus navy friends.
      1. +3
        31 August 2020 13: 23
        It's not worth talking about the quality of the Japanese fleet! Head and shoulders above the Pacific Fleet Russia. If not the nuclear part, the superiority of the samurai is colossal.
    3. +3
      31 August 2020 11: 45
      Shinzo will now stand in line for the "Far Eastern hectare"! If he gives a ride to the number, he will also put all 126 million of his fellow citizens in line :)
      We must keep our promises!
      1. +2
        31 August 2020 13: 55
        Quote: Yngvar
        behind the "Far Eastern hectare"

        But figs to him! I'm against ! Let the "Arctic hectare" register! hi
        1. +2
          31 August 2020 15: 30
          Zema !!! Another 10 years of such care !!! And the Region itself will enroll in samurai !!! Moreover, there has already been a precedent ... You and I will have to rush about the hills with Berdanks. Truthfully, given that the fish does not go into the rivers (the worst fishing season in the last 12 years) we don't run for a long time ... And I respect the Japanese, at one time I ran into them in the service, guys are serious
          1. 0
            1 September 2020 03: 24
            Quote: Nehist
            guys are serious

            It is not for nothing that Koreans are still afraid of them .... My friend, a Korean woman, has a "duty suitcase" ready. Fear and hatred at the genetic level - her parents were slaves to the Japanese until the age of 45.
          2. 0
            1 September 2020 05: 38
            Neither them nor us will be enough for 10 years! We have patience, but they have "jets" on takeoff, the motors are heating ...
    4. 0
      31 August 2020 17: 06
      20 million less. If the difference was 2-3 million, then one could say "almost like in the Russian Federation."
  3. +6
    31 August 2020 10: 29
    the country is by no means small, who invented it. In terms of territory, Japan is more than England, Germany, or let's say France.
    1. +4
      31 August 2020 11: 28
      France without overseas territories 551 thousand sq. Km. But the strength of the fleet (excluding nuclear weapons) is comparable to the entire Russian fleet, not the Russian Pacific Fleet.
    2. +1
      31 August 2020 17: 08
      France will be bigger than Japan.
  4. +4
    31 August 2020 10: 42
    All former empires have phantom pains and nostalgia for the lost territories.
    1. 0
      31 August 2020 12: 43
      Such phantom pains in connection with losses of various kinds, and ordinary people also have. Someone grieves for the lost business or property, someone for the lost child, someone for the disappeared prospects and social status. Only such phantom pains disappear along with the person himself.

      And the phantom pains of states and peoples will probably continue to exist until these states and peoples themselves disappear.
    2. +2
      31 August 2020 15: 16
      Yeah, especially among the Swedes. Even the Spaniards. The Italians. The Macedonians are not lagging behind, along with the Greeks. Mongols to the same steppe. Nogays. Tatars of all kinds. Cambodians. Egyptian Copts. The Portuguese are also from Europe. Dutch. And it's embarrassing to even talk about the Bolivian and Venezuelan Indians, about their imperial ambitions. The Mexicans have even more.
      The biggest imperial ambitions are those who have never created empires in their lives, but suddenly decided that this was an empire. This is just about Japan.
  5. +1
    31 August 2020 10: 52
    she has big claims.

    He sees an eye, but a tooth doesn’t.
  6. 0
    31 August 2020 11: 15
    Abe did not fulfill his promise to return the Kuril Islands ... time to do seppuku ... or Abe does not respect samurai traditions.
    1. -1
      31 August 2020 11: 31
      Quote: The same LYOKHA
      does not respect samurai traditions.
      He got a stomach ache. Not before him!
    2. -3
      31 August 2020 12: 45
      We ought to help the person to do seppuku.
      In the Middle Ages in Japan there were even special assistants who stood with a sword or knife at the ready, in case the samurai suddenly changed his mind ...
      1. 0
        31 August 2020 15: 09
        Not yours.
        Finish off when the samurai has already ripped open his stomach, not earlier. Ie, he stuck a blade into the belly, and made two ripping movements without releasing the handle from his hands.
  7. +5
    31 August 2020 11: 47
    I suppose that the question of the phantom pains of the past territorial losses and the current claims to its neighbors in Japan will persist for a long time. And there are two reasons for this.

    1. Keeping the old political elite in power, formed immediately after WWII in the person of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDPR). Although the veterans in this party have already gone to another world, their heirs along the line of political dynasties stood at the head of the party.

    Ordinary Japanese don't give a damn about the lost territories, but they are being screwed up by revenge-seeking politicians from among the unbeaten pre-war militarists and their descendants. It does not seem that the LDPR's position in Japan will weaken in the near term.

    2. It is beneficial for the United States if Japan is in contradiction with all of its neighbors in order to further control Japan's foreign policy and defense. This gives the United States a reason to keep its troops and nuclear weapons in Japan to this day.

    And this weapon is directed against Russia, first of all, and secondly against China. And the DPRK is not a real reason for the presence of US troops in Japan, but an official excuse, like the US missile defense systems in Poland and Romania, against the supposedly terrible Iranian missile threat.

    The United States will not allow Japan to conclude a peace treaty with Russia on the condition that Japan recognizes the results of WWII and the legality of Russia's annexation of all the Kuriles, with the transfer of Shikotan and the small Kuril ridge to Japan in response. If a politician or a group of politicians agreeing to the above-mentioned option appears in Japan, the United States will achieve mixing of these politicians from their posts in the Japanese Liberal Democratic Party and from posts in the Japanese government.

    The Russian leadership's understanding of the existence of these circumstances, and the impossibility of eliminating them in the foreseeable future, led to the fact that Putin supported the amendment to the Constitution of the Russian Federation regarding the inalienability of its territories. Because Putin himself apparently wanted to conclude a peace treaty with Japan and thereby enter history. But if He did not succeed, then let no other future President of the Russian Federation succeed.
  8. -4
    31 August 2020 12: 42
    The Japanese urgently needs to come up with a new belt color in some struggle in order to "advance" "negotiations" with admirers of the "Japanese way of life" in different countries of the world. Well, and we periodically grease the fig with vegetable oil so that it shines from afar.
  9. +4
    31 August 2020 15: 07
    Excuse me, but for how many centuries has Japan pursued an expansive policy? Before Tokugawa? So they barely managed to populate the archipelago there. After Meiji and until August 1945? It doesn't take centuries there. But so, yes, for centuries, sitting in self-isolation and cooking in their own identity.
    1. +2
      31 August 2020 15: 38
      Oh yes, teach history 1592 the beginning of such a global war between Japan and Korea! 6 years lasted. Muscovy has just begun to fall into turmoil
      1. +1
        2 September 2020 15: 12
        They pushed onto the mainland, after a series of victories - got a kick, and dumped back to the islands.
        And where is the consistent and methodical expansion due to imperial ambitions?
  10. 0
    31 August 2020 15: 22
    No empire has grown peacefully. And everyone has their own Crimea, which is mourned.

    P.S. The author, if possible, please write about Hungary. There they have phantom pains. About Austria-Hungary. And about the latest project to save the empire: the United States of Greater Austria
  11. 0
    31 August 2020 17: 32
    Eh the Japanese, everyone will be restless ..
    Today I watched a documentary film about the defeat of the Kwantung army in Manchuria .. So here is one small but important fact (usually withheld) ..
    There was such a Colonel Kondratyev, and so the Kwantung Army was practically gouged, but the XNUMX-strong group remained and was not going to surrender, but the morale was not the same ... ) with three officers on the plane to the very lair where the Japanese headquarters was located in order to force them to surrender ..
    Agreed, but with a hint that a nuclear bomb would be dropped if something went wrong ..))) The Japanese general believed .. In general, one colonel won XNUMX thousand Japanese soldiers without firing a single shot .. The hero was presented, but Stalin refused, as if nefig to talk (the diplomat was found), about which we have not yet had a trace ... the Order of the Red Banner of the star was given to him ..
    Then his rogue was almost imprisoned, he forged documents, supposedly graduated from the academy, etc. He was still a swindler! But how many lives of Soviet soldiers saved !!!!!!!
    So the Japanese will better shut up, otherwise we will send such a "envoy" to you))))))
  12. +1
    31 August 2020 18: 11
    Quote: Andrey from Chelyabinsk
    As you can see, the country is small, but it has big claims.

    The population of Japan is 126,5 million people, almost like in the Russian Federation. So I wouldn't call this country small

    Taking into account the fact that the Russian possessions beyond the Urals will be completely depopulated in 25 years (well, 10 million will remain in large cities) And no advertising can be lured there. The outflow is growing every year, and the demography, like everywhere else, is none. Old people die, young people flee. What can we oppose 150 million to Japan? Only nuclear weapons? hi
  13. sen
    +2
    1 September 2020 06: 31
    Following the results of WWII, the USSR withdrew the Kuril Islands, and the United States the Japanese Mariana Islands. Until the United States, an ally of Japan, returns the Mariana Islands to it, Japan should not even stutter about the Kuril Islands.
  14. 0
    2 September 2020 19: 45
    State, centuries pursuing an imperial expansionist policy, today it does not get tired of claiming its rights to a number of territories, which it continues to consider its own, contrary to the opinion of other countries.

    The level of the article is clear stop
  15. -2
    4 September 2020 03: 16
    I would like to remind you of 1905. The Russian Pacific Fleet was destroyed. Makarov died in battle. Great Russia was disgraced by little Japan.
    1. -1
      4 September 2020 03: 21
      We only had to remember the heroism of our sailors. But besides the power of the Spirit, there is a serious component of how much dough the state effectively spends on its defense.

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