Kuril Island conflict
The Kuril Island conflict is a dispute between Russia and Japan over the sovereignty of some of Kuril Islands currently under Russian administration.
The disputed islands are:
- Kunashiri Island (国後島)
- Etorofu Island (択捉島)
- Habomai Islands (歯舞群島)
- Shikotan Island (色丹島)
The dispute results from an ambiguity over the Treaty of San Francisco. Under Article 2c),
Japan renounces all right, title and claim to the Kuril Islands, and to that portion of Sakhalin and the islands adjacent to it over which Japan acquired sovereignty as a consequence of the Treaty of Portsmouth of 5 September 1905.
The dispute is whether four of the islands currently under Russian administration were acquired by the Treaty of Portsmouth or were under Japanese control prior to this treaty.
see also Foreign relations of Japan, Treaty of Saint Petersburg