International security

A New Cold War With Russia Forces Japan to Choose Sides

The Japanese government has been engaged in a delicate balancing act when it comes to Russia. Even as the crisis in East-West relations has intensified since 2014, Japan has strengthened political and economic ties with its northern neighbor. It has justified this policy as essential in order to secure a breakthrough in Japan’s longstanding territorial dispute over the Southern Kurils/Northern Territories. However, as geopolitical tensions reach Cold War levels, Japan is under increasing pressure to fall in line with its Western partners.

Among G7 members, Japan has been an outlier on Russia for several years. The first indication of this was in February 2014, when Prime Minister Shinzo Abe attended the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics in Sochi, an event boycotted by major Western leaders. After Russia annexed Crimea the next month, Japan did introduce some sanctions, though these were designed to be extremely weak, thereby signaling the government’s reluctant adoption of the policy. Indeed, the identities of the 23 individuals sanctioned by Japan were never revealed.