Japan’s governorate Karafuto (1905-1945): History and social memory

History of colonies under the rule of Japanese Empire in the first half of the 20th century has not been explored well enough so far. For example, history of Karafuto governorate “(1905-1945), which existed in the southern part of Sakhalin, is barely covered while some aspects of its history are not known at all. This article focuses on history of formation and socio-economic structure of Karafuto governorate - such as territorial development after the Russo-Japanese war, its role and status in the colonial system of Japan, the use of the main economic resources of the island and creation of socio-cultural space along with the memorialization of the colonial past of the northern borders of Japanese Empire. Besides that, in this article author highlights the process of liquidation of the governorate (it started after accession of the southern part of Sakhalin to the USSR territory after the Second World War) followed by passing the governance on to the soviet administration, co-residence of Soviet and Japanese people on the same territory during 1945-1948, along with deportation of Japanese people and fate of Korean population of the island. The article gives the examples of preservation of memory of Japanese presence on Sakhalin Island in both modern Japan and Russia

Rewarding Japanese Servicemen With Russian Awards During World War I and the Civil War (1914–1922)

The period from the end of the Russo-Japanese War to the 1917 October Revolution was a time of political, economic, and cultural rapprochement between Russia and Japan. Moreover, this rapprochement was observed after the events of 1917 for several more years, since, during the Russian Civil War, Japan supported the anti-Bolshevik forces in the Far East.The two countries entered the First World War as de facto allies; this alliance culminated in the Treaty of 1916. Its reflection in symbolic actions was also an element of this cooperation. In the years before the First World War, and, actually, during the war, hundreds of Japanese servicemen were given Russian awards. The article analyzes the composition of military personnel, what awards and for what merits were presented to the members of the Imperial House who did military service, diplomats, generals, as well as fleet admirals and naval officers, engineers, and divers.After October 1917, Japan supported members of the White Movement and Admiral A. V. Kolchak for several more years. In addition, even more active support was provided to Ataman G. M. Semenov. For example, Japanese garrisons were stationed in Transbaikalia starting from the autumn of 1918, when he came to power there. Paradoxically, many Japanese officers and enlisted men were presented with Russian awards during the years of the Civil War, which fact is also confirmed in archival documents

Problems of the historical past in Japan’s relations with the countries of Asia: Reconciliation attempts

In this article, the author analyzes the post-war development of relations between Japan and Asian countries. This work tracks correlation between sustainable development of economic and political relations, on one hand, and gradual decrease of tension connected with the issues of historical past in the second part of the 20th century, on the other hand. The article addresses the issue of post-war relations between Japan and other Asian countries (PRC, Korea, Taiwan), as well as Southeast Asian countries (mainly Singapore, Indonesia). Besides, special attention is paid to the issues of historical memory related to the Japanese occupation of Indonesia and its consequences, specifically to the problem of the historical grievances of Dutch people towards Japan and the problem of children born to men from the Japanese military and local women. In the 1980s, the mothers of these children and the children themselves started visiting Japan. The visits were financed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan and included official meetings. At approximately the same time, the first trips for former Dutch POWs and those who had been forcibly conscripted to work in Japan were held. In the memorial places these people visited, memorial signs and steles were installed, which symbolized reconciliation on issues of historical memory. Traumatic experience produced by certain historical events is not the only issue here. Development of international ties after these events is also an important factor. The possibility of reconciliation or even overcoming such problems often depends on how positively and mutually beneficially such relations develop afterwards. Over time, especially as generations change and emotions connected with these traumatic events calm down, we can see preconditions for compromises and reconciliation. On the other hand, as tension between nations increases, the number of mutual claims is also increasing. If relations develop smoothly, especially if this process goes on for several generations, any offence or claim might be left behind and memory of it might even become a source of reconciliation

Japan’s Karafuto Governorate (1905-1945): History and Social Memory

The history of colonies under the rule of the Japanese Empire in the first half of the 20th century has not been explored well enough so far. For example, the history of Karafuto Governorate (1905-1945), which existed in southern Sakhalin, is covered very little, while some aspects of its history are not known at all. This article focuses on the history of Karafuto Governorate’s formation and its socio-economic structure, namely territorial development after the Russo-Japanese war, its role and status in the colonial system of Japan, the use of the island’s main economic resources and the creation of socio-cultural space, as well as along the memorialization of the colonial past of the Japanese Empire’s northern borders. In addition, this article describes the process of the governorate’s liquidation (it started after the accession of southern Sakhalin to the USSR after the Second World War) followed by passing the governance to the Soviet administration, co-residence of Soviet and Japanese people on the same territory in 1945-1948, the deportation of Japanese people and the fate of the Korean population of the island. The article gives examples of how the memory of the Japanese presence on Sakhalin Island is preserved in Japan and Russia today

Nipponica Nova. Change of Signposts: Japanese way. Review of the monograph “Japan in the Retrospective of Generation Change” ed. by Prof. Streltsov D.V

This article is a review of the collective monograph “Japan in the Retrospective of Generation Change”. The main object of study here are the changes which happened to two young generations of Japanese people whose lives were influenced by complicated reality of the past 30 years when the economy started to stagnate and rate of economic growth slowed down. Authors of this monograph are making an attempt to figure out what do such matters as family, labor, leisure time mean to modern Japanese people and also analyze their attitude towards the global society and specifically their attitude to the USA, China and Russia. Here one can also find information concerning gender issues in Japan, modern Japanese women outlook on their relationship with the men matter, marriage, career and political ambitions

Russo-Japanese Relations in the Prerevolutionary Period: from Severe Competition to the Militar Alliance

The article provides a critical analysis of the monograph of Konstantin Sarkisov «Russia and Japan. One hundred years of mutual relations (1817- 1917)». A special attention is given to the historical circumstances that preceded the Russo-Japanese war of 1904-1905, and to the following rapprochement of the two countries, which reached its peak in 1916, when Moscow and Tokyo entered a full-fledged military alliance. The relevance of the monograph is linked to the present rise in Russian-Japanese relations, which increases interest in the positive historical experience accumulated in the course of their development