Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi answers questions from reporters at the Prime Minister’s Office in Tokyo on May 25, 2026. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi announced on May 25 that the government would create a supplementary budget of $19 billion to support households suffering from soaring daily living costs due to the Iran war. (Photo provided by Jiji Press / AFP via Getty Images) / Japan OUT
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Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi criticized Russian President Vladimir Putin’s first visit to the disputed Kuril Islands, saying they are “inherently Japanese territory.”
Takaichi said in a post on X on Thursday that the Japanese government had “repeatedly requested the Russian side not to allow the president to visit the Northern Territories.” The Northern Territories refers to the Kuril Islands.
He also said Putin’s visit was “absolutely unacceptable.”
The Kuril Islands are located between the southern tip of Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula and the northeastern corner of Japan’s Hokkaido. A sparsely populated volcanic archipelago separates the Sea of Okhotsk from the Pacific Ocean. The archipelago’s four southernmost islands were annexed by the Soviet Union when it began its invasion of Japanese territory at the end of World War II.
During his trip, Putin visited the island of Iturup, where Russia operates a strategically important military base. The Russian president toured fish processing facilities, hospitals and schools before meeting with Sakhalin Governor Valery Limarenko.
Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi also criticized the visit, posting on Facebook, “Japan strongly protests against this visit.”
A photo of the pool shared by Russia’s state agency Sputnik shows Russian President Vladimir Putin tasting caviar on August 13, 2026, during a visit to the Yasny fish processing factory on Iturup Island, one of four disputed islands known as Russia’s Kuril Islands and Japan’s Northern Territories.
Gabriel Grigorov | AFP | Getty Images
In the 1951 Treaty of San Francisco, Japan renounced its “rights, title, and claims to the Kuril Islands” but did not recognize Soviet sovereignty over the territory.
A joint declaration in 1956 ended the state of war between the two countries, but the dispute over the island prevented Tokyo and Moscow from signing a postwar peace treaty.
Japan’s defense white paper
Analysts at the Institute for War Studies, a Washington-based think tank, said Putin’s visit was likely part of the Kremlin’s response to Japan’s latest defense white paper and was aimed at undermining Takaichi’s efforts to improve Japan’s defense capabilities.
Japan released a defense white paper earlier this month, sparking a backlash from President Vladimir Putin and Russia’s ally North Korea. The Russian president criticized the white paper for identifying Moscow as one of Tokyo’s major threats.
The white paper stated, “Russia continues to conduct active military activities in the Northern Territories, which are Japan’s unique territory, under illegal occupation.”
