Kuril Compromise

The Kuril Compromise is a peace treaty signed between Japan and the Russian Federation in March 2014. The document officially ended hostilities between Japan and Russia as no peace treaty was signed at the conclusion of World War 2.

= Background = The Kuril Compromise was the brain child of Japanese Minister for Foreign Affairs Takeaki Matsumoto. Minister Matsumoto drafted a list of requirements for peace between Russia and Japan in January. Following the approval of Prime Minister Naoto Kan, Matsumoto traveled to Moscow to present the draft to Prime Minister Putin. The hope was to end the political battle regarding who owned the Kuril Islands.

Requirements
= Treaty Text =

= Result = Prime Minister Putin and President Medvedev agreed to the terms and Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan made a special trip to Moscow to sign the treaty. Once the last signatures were in place, Japan had relinquished all claims to the Kuril Islands and Japanese nationals were allowed to return to their homes as well as free travel between the Kurils and the Japanese mainland.

= Aftermath =

Japan
In Japan, a wave of protests in several cities with thousands of participants hit mass media. With clear discontent, latest polls showed that the Kan Government hit record low approval ratings.

Discontent
Protesters pointed out that no economic advances were made for Japanese nationals residing in the Kurils. Japanese citizens in the Kurils would now have to submit to Russian taxes and laws and would simply be a source of income for Russia. There was also no clause defining whether or not economic zones, merchandise, and natural resources owned by Japanese nationals in the Kurils would be owned by Japan or Russia. There was also no clause defining whether Russian/Japanese customs fees and tariffs would apply to goods mailed between Japan and the Kurils.

Russia
Polls in Russia show strong support of the treaty.