Japan refuses to consider four Russian islands as part of the Kuril Islands
Japan does not claim the Kuril Islands, but Tokyo does not consider Kunashir, Iturup, Shikotan and the Habomai Mountains as part of the archipelago, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said in a statement on the speech of Communist Party Chairman Kazuo Se-hyun in the House of Representatives.
"Northern Territories" - islands that belong to our country's sovereignty. There is no change in this stance," Mr. Abe said.
At the same time, he added, Japan "renounced jurisdiction over the Kurils under the 1951 San Francisco Peace Treaty" and therefore did not demand their return.
Speaking about the prospect of signing a peace treaty with Russia, Mr. Abe stressed that the solution to the territorial issue is Japan's main point of discussion.
Speaking in Parliament, Prime Minister Abe expressed confidence that both countries "will further strengthen trust and friendship and together find mutually acceptable solutions to promote negotiations on a peace treaty."