THE RUSSO-JAPANESE WAR BEGAN ONE HUNDRED TEN YEARS AGO; TODAY PUTIN AND ABE MET TO TALK ABOUT TALKING ABOUT SOME OF THE SAME OLD ISSUES

THE RUSSO-JAPANESE 

WAR BROKE OUT 

February 8, 1904 

THE SEA OF OKHOTSK 

off the Southeastern Shore 
of Sakhalin Island 

South Sakhalin ("Karafuto") was won by the Japanese as a result 
of  their victory in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905 

Captured by the USSR in World War II; the entire island is part of Russia 

Still in contention: 

Four islands and groups of islets known as the Kurils (Kuriles) by the Russians, and as the Northern Territories by the Japanese;

under Soviet and then Russian control since World War II 

Some background, here 

Today on the sidelines of the Sochi Winter Olympics Russian President Vladimir Putin and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe met and agreed to talk about the sticky island dispute, which has prevented the two countries from signing a peace treaty winding up World War II, at their next meeting, scheduled to take place again in Sochi, at the upcoming G8 summit in June of this year. 

President Putin will then visit Japan in the fall. 

BORIS YELTSIN IN THE NEWS TODAY

BORIS YELTSIN 

CHECKS IT OUT 

BORIS YELTSIN INSPECTS THE BOOKS 
Sakhalinskaya Oil Platform 
Sea of Okhotsk, off the City of Okha 
Sakhalin Island, Sakhalin Oblast', USSR 
August 1990 

From today's Washington Post obituary of Kongar-ol Ondar, a "master of throat singing" from the Russian republic of Tuva: 

He mesmerized audiences with his ability to produce two or more notes simultaneously — a low, steady drone overlaid with higher-pitched tones that to the unaccustomed ear sounded like a radio gone haywire. 

His talent was so extraordinary that when he sang for Yeltsin in 1994, the Russian leader looked into his mouth in search of a device that could produce such music. 

From Russia Redux, Chapter Six:  Yeltsin "was never kabinetnyi, never one to be desk-bound."  He "liked to be out in the field, seeing things first hand." 

BORIS YELTSIN b. February 1, 1931

BORIS YELTSIN

February 1, 1931-April 23, 2007

BORIS YELTSIN

TALKS TO THE SHIPS AT SEA

OFF SAKHALIN ISLAND, RUSSIA,

FROM THE CAPITAL, YUZHNOSAKHALINSK,

BY RADIO CONFERENCE CALL, AUGUST 1990

For more on Yeltsin and Sakhalin, see "RUSSIA REDUX," Ch. 2 ("The Peoples' Choice"), here. For much more on Boris Yeltsin, click the label "Yeltsin," below.

THE USSR ENTERS THE WAR AGAINST JAPAN, August 8, 1945

THE 

SOVIET UNION 

DECLARES 

WAR ON JAPAN 

August 8, 1945 

"WELCOME TO SAKHALIN" 

with a map indicating Moscow 

on the upper left 

and Yuzhnosakhalinsk (the capital of Sakhalin) 

on the lower right 

When Moscow finally declared war on Japan on August 8, 1945, two days after the bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, it claimed  that it was acting strictly according to its treaty obligations. 

Tokyo surrendered a week later, five days after Nagasaki was also atom-bombed. 

But Moscow and Tokyo have yet to sign a peace treaty -- a World War II peace treaty.  For its efforts, the USSR got (and Russia afterwards) the southern half of Sakhalin Island (it already occupied the north) and the Kuril Islands, or, as the Japanese prefer, the/their Northern Territories. 

Tokyo does not still claim southern Sakhalin (their former Karafuto), but it is adamant about the Kurils/Northern Territories. 

For same recent developments, see here and here. 

For background and a lot more on Sakhalin, see here. 

THE LADY WITH THE DOG

THE LADY 

WITH 

 

THE DOG 

CHEKHOV WROTE AN EXQUISITE SHORT STORY WITH THIS TITLE (in Russian, Дама ссобачкой), FROM WHICH AN EQUALLY WONDERFUL FILM WAS MADE: 

Some versions of the film are available 

here & 

here & 

here. 

Meanwhile, our lady with the (black) dog (above above) is the first of a series on: 

PEOPLE 

& 

THEIR PETS 

AT THE VET'S 

BORIS YELTSIN GONE FOUR YEARS TODAY

BORIS YELTSIN 

February 1, 1931-April 23, 2007 

A THOUGHTFUL YELTSIN 

A LISTENING YELTSIN 

August 23, 1990 

FIRST PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA 

July 10, 1991-December 31, 1999 

RUSSIA THEN & NOW: SAKHALIN & AN OLD JAPANESE CONNECTION

SAKHALIN, RUSSIA,

&

AN OLD

JAPANESE CONNECTION

PAPER MILL, KHOLMSK (RUSSIA)

ISLAND OF SAKHALIN, USSR, 1984

This plant was built by Japan when it held the southern half of Sakhalin (Karafuto), and "renovated," so I had read, by the Soviets in the fifties. It looked like a scene out of a movie about the evils of old capitalist exploitation, and gave forth a stench that sent my local guide fleeing from the plant floor to get some air.

-- from RUSSIA REDUX

WORLD WAR II HEATS UP AGAIN (YES, TWO): RUSSIA & JAPAN AT ODDS OVER THE KURILS/NORTHERN TERRITORIES

RUSSIA & JAPAN

QUARREL OVER

THE KURIL ISLANDS/

NORTHERN TERRITORIES

SAKHALIN MUSEUM

YUZHNOSAKHALINSK, RUSSIA

(FORMER GOVERNOR'S MANSION

UNDER THE JAPANESE)

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has ordered a stepped-up military presence on the Kuril Islands, once ruled by the Japanese and claimed by Tokyo as the "Northern Territories." These islands and islets north of Japan's Hokkaido island and east of Russia's Sakhalin island have kept Russia and Tokyo from ever signing a treaty ending World War II between them. [to be continued]

For more on the history and the politics, see Chapter II of "RUSSIA REDUX."

MEDVEDEV IS GOING TO THE KURILS; JAPAN IS UNHAPPY

IN A FOG 

TWO MEN IN A BOAT IN THE FOG 

ON THE SEA OF OKHOTSK, OFF THE 

ISLAND OF SAKHALIN, RUSSIA 

It has been announced that Russian president Dmitry Medvedev will be visiting the Kuril Islands, part of Sakhalin oblast' in the Russian Far East.   Tokyo is said to find the visit provocative -- a Russian president visiting Japan's "Northern Territories." 

World War II is not ended for Russia and Japan because of these disputed islands, or islets. 

RUN, SALMON RUN; GROW, SALMON, GROW

PRIZE SALMON "CATCH"?

"THE FIRST GE ANIMAL 

APPROVED FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION"?

PACIFIC SALMON CATCH, 

SEA OF OKHOTSK,

OFF THE ISLAND OF SAKHALIN

(RUSSIA), USSR, 1990

According to the Vancouver Sun, there may yet be a spanner thrown into the works -- by the Canadian government.  Awaiting final approval from the U.S. FDA [Food and Drug Administration] is the "AquAdvantage salmon, genetically engineered to grow twice as fast with a gene from an eel-like fish, called an ocean pout [sic], and a growth hormone from a chinook salmon." 

SALMON SEASON ON SAKHALIN

SALMON SEASON 

ON SAKHALIN 

THE NAVY HELPS. 

THE YEAR IS 1990. 

BORIS YELTSIN IS COMING TO VISIT. 

More on the Sakhalin story here. 

PICTURE FOR A SUMMER'S DAY: SAKHALIN SHASHLIK

PICTURE 

FOR A 

SUMMER'S DAY 

SHASHLIK 

ON THE ISLAND OF SAKHALIN 

BACK IN THE USSR, SUMMER, 1990 

More in RUSSIA REDUX 

Whenever oil and gas are in the news, 

Sakhalin will be too. 

BORIS YELTSIN DIES, April 23, 2007

BORIS YELTSIN

FIRST PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA

DIES APRIL 23, 2007

(BORN FEBRUARY 1, 1931)

BORIS YELTSIN PHOTOGRAPHED

IN AN OIL RIG CABIN

OFF THE COAST OF SAKHALIN, RUSSIA, USSR (1990)

IN A FOG: SAKHALIN, RUSSIA

IN A FOG 

TWO MEN IN A BOAT 

IN THE FOG 

ON THE SEA OF OKHOTSK, 

OFF THE 

ISLAND OF 

SAKHALIN, RUSSIA 

BAILING OUT: PARACHUTING OVER SAKHALIN

BAILING OUT

PARACHUTING OVER SAKHALIN

BACK IN THE DAY

USSR 1990

LENIN AGAIN: SOVIET MANAGEMENT AT SEA

LENIN AGAIN

SOVIET MANAGEMENT AT SEA

CAPTAIN OF A FLOATING FISH FACTORY

ON THE SEA OKHOTSK

OFF SAKHALIN (RUSSIA), USSR, 1990

BORIS YELTSIN ON SAKHALIN

UP CLOSE & PERSONAL

BORIS YELTSIN

IN THE CROWD 

OKHA, SAKHALIN, 1990 

To build on the themes of two earlier postings, the new Russian leader letting the people surge up close in Moscow, and touring the far eastern island of Sakhalin: Find Boris Yeltsin by that trademark thatch of white hair. And read more about it in RUSSIA REDUX. 

OVER SAKHALIN

FLYING OVER SAKHALIN

AIR SHOW DUO

Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk (Russia), USSR, 1990

Continuing east from Moscow -- via Baikal – we come all the way out to the island of Sakhalin, so far east in Russia that it is just north of Japan.

For tales of Boris Yeltsin's journey to Sakhalin (an eyewitness account), and a little of Anton Chekhov's (not an eyewitness account; Chekhov wrote the book on that himself, a century or so ago); for stories of oil and gas and timber and salmon, and KAL 007 and the Kurils, have a look at Russia Redux.