Japan and Russia

International History Review

Arguably,never before has such a wealth of in-depth information on the subject of Russian-Japanese normalization appeared in one place.

Pacific Affairs

Gems in themselves providing interesting insights based on new research.

Library Journal

Rozman (Musgrave Professor of Sociology, Princeton; Russia and East Asia: The 21st Century Security Environment) has edited 16 papers by various authors who are either directly involved with or who have studied Russo-Japanese relations. For more than 40 years, these relations have been the poorest between any two industrialized countries. At the conclusion of World War II, the Soviet Union was allowed to annex the northern islands in the Kuriles (Chishima in Japanese), and negotiations to settle the territorial dispute began at the San Francisco Conference in 1951. Though various periods seemed like the "right time" to settle the dispute, each passed without a resolution. Japan's relations with the United States and with China, as well as U.S. relations with China, have further complicated the issue. This book features mild disagreement between Japanese and Russian contributors about visits of Gorbachev and Yeltsin to Japan in the 1990s. As usual, books by committee have strengths and weaknesses: there is a richness of opinion but a slight unevenness in writing style and ability. In addition, the 16 contributors are not sufficiently identified. Recommended for academic collections.--Harry Willems, Southeast Kansas Lib. System, Iola Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.\

Kirkus Reviews

Essays of varying interest and lucidity by international authorities who provide varying perspectives on the enduring inability of Japan and Russia to resolve a territorial dispute over the Kurile Islands. Resembling a string of pearls, the Kuriles lie between northern Japan and the Kamchatka Peninsula. Though considered part of Japan by the Japanese, the islands remain in the control of Russia, whose forces occupied them during the final days of WWII and whose leaders throughout the postwar period have consistently refused to return them. This dispute, according to editor Rozman (Sociology/Princeton Univ.) is the principal reason that Russo-Japanese relations "rank poorest among the great powers." Rozman has assembled an impressive cast of contributors to this project and has succeeded in presenting a balanced (if sometimes repetitive) discussion of the issues. Divided into three major sections, the volume first examines the background of Russo-Japanese relations (1949-84), moves to very recent events (1985-99), and concludes with five essays (including one by Rozman that is the best in the collection) that in various ways present the case that both sides share "the experience of fallen powers" and must readjust their thinking if progress is to occur. Although this territorial bone of contention has been perhaps too well-gnawed by the end, a number of the essayists make arresting points. Ambassador Sumio Edamura, for example, observes that Boris Yeltsin's "authoritarian and unpredictable" personality hampered negotiations. Deputy Foreign Minister Georgi Kunadze notes that it would have been easier to negotiate a settlement during the Soviet periodwhenthe Kremlin could have safely ignored contrary public opinion. And Tsuyoshi Hasogawa claims the problem is "largely a creation of the United States," whose Cold War, anti-Soviet policies made the USSR less willing to accommodate America's principal Pacific ally. Scholarly and often dense—but shows clearly how collisions of culture and history impede international relations.