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
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.
