Kunashir, Russia, August 2011

I had a very unique experience traveling to Far East Russia, Sakhalin province, Kunashir island, in August.  Here is the executive summary of my official report along with pictures and captions.  If you would like to receive the full report, please contact me.

Executive Summary.   Territorial disputes are real issues in East Asia, and the ones concerning Japan and its neighbors often make the news in the countries involved.  Japan currently has disputes with China, South Korea and Russia, the issue with Russia involves the largest amount of land and people.  In Japan the dispute is called the Northern Territories Problem.  There are four larger islands in the center of the dispute and many small islands also involved.  The island of Kunashir is the closest to Japan and the most populated and developed.

                Japanese middle and high school textbooks still read that these islands belong to Japan but are being administered by Russia.  If occupation means ownership, however, then these are most certainly Russian islands.  Kunashir island contains two military bases with a homogenous Russian population of about 5,000 citizens engaged in commercial fishing with tourism as a second, smaller industry.  The Federal Security Service/Bureau (FSB) is prominent on the island, and the island community operates like any Russian territory.  In 2010 the region, or state, of Sakhalin to which Kunashir belongs celebrated its 65^th anniversary of its liberation from the Japanese.  Billboards and other items commemorating that milestone remain visible today.

                However, there exist interesting factors to consider that the future of Kunashir is not fixed in place.  The population of Kunashir is in decline, now 5,000 from a height of 15,000 about ten years ago.  The fishing industry produces only for Western Russia export: seafood costs more to buy on the island than it does in Moscow.  The island’s extremely unique and beautiful geography attracts Russian tourists and some international vacationers but the industry languishes in a second-world state of management.  The citizens of Kunashir speak candidly of their impression that unless their government reinvests in the area, it is only a matter of time before the Japanese move in and quickly develop it.

                Within this framework there exists visible though low-key reciprocal engagement between Japan and Russia.  Cultural exchange takes the form of annual conferences and public effort on the main island of Sakhalin.  On Kunashir, there exists a Russian and Japanese Friendship House, built by the Japanese 12 years ago, which cultivates positive sentiments from the island’s populace.  More formally, Russia continues to allow visa-free, tightly guarded trips to groups of Japanese citizens who come onto Kunashir and visit the graves of their ancestors- perhaps the most prominent issue in the territory dispute from the Japanese perspective. 

                At this time, it appears that neither Japan nor Russia is in a position financially or politically to commit to truly resolving this territory dispute.  There still remain deep emotions on both sides toward the issue, at least at the senior leadership level.  A question remains as to if those strong sentiments will be handed down to future generations of Russians and Japanese so as to make the issue remain difficult, or whether the next generations will decide to let the emotions of the old war fade into history and instead look at the area with a more pragmatic mind toward the strengthening of two distinct cultures that merge in unique ways on these islands. 

-A volcanic lake valley.  The small sulfur lake to the left was channeled into the fresh water lake by the Japanese.

-Mt Mendeleev, the high peak on Kunashir, named after the Russian father of the periodic table of elements due to so many kinds of minerals found around the volcano.

-A picture of a group of Japanese citizens preparing to depart the island via boat after visiting family gravesites; the entire visit to the island lasted only 12 hours and the group was tightly escorted by Russian FSG personnel.

-An example of a Japanese cemetery, the marker in the center records a surprisingly recent date of 2004, though other markers date into the Showa era prior to WWII.

-An example of a Russian cemetery, connected to the Japanese site in the other picture.

-An example of the hexagonal rock formations found on one of the coasts. 

-Another example of the unique rock coastal rock formations.

-Inside a taxi, an interesting decoration hangs from the mirror: a Russian Orthodox icon of Jesus Christ but decorated with Chinese designs.      

-A full statue of Lenin in the downtown train station park of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk.    

–A recently renovated Russian Orthodox church in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk. 

–A memorial park area commemorating the liberation of Sakhalin from the Japanese in 1945.     

-A lone rock formation on a beach, called both The Candle or the Devil’s Finger (a discarded bottle of Japanese Asahi beer was found nearby and set upright for effect). 

-A bust of Lenin in the town square of Yuzhno-Kurilsk.       

-The Russian and Japanese Friendship House, located in the center of Yuzhno-Kurilsk and built by the Japanese 12 years ago to promote warm relations.

-Sunset view from the Kunashir hotel.  That is a peninsula spur of Hokkaido seen on the far horizon.  

-A business center in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk with a lone banner on the front entrance announcing the 6^th Annual Russia and Japan Cultural Exchange Conference, occurring for four days.

.     –The provincial museum in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, displaying distinctively Northeast Asian design and architecture.

-In Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk’s provincial museum, an outside display of a Japanese artillery cannon with a Meiji era date engraved on the barrel.