The Formative Process of the Logic for the Return of "The Northern Territories" as the Japanese National Policy

The territorial dispute has prevented Japan and Russia from signing a peace treaty for six decades after World War II. Today the Japanese government claims "The Northern Territories" as inherent Japanese territories, though for about 20 years after the war there had been no consensus in Japan on what lands the Soviet Union should give back. Some demanded all of the Kuril Islands ; others sought only the southern Kurils. Japan\u27s first postwar claim to the Kurils came in the form of a petition, submitted by the Mayor of Nemuro to General MacArthur in December 1945. Until 1951, five more petitions were also submitted to the GHQ from Nemuro, where 90% of the former inhabitants of the Kurils had lived. This article analyses the logic of the territorial claim by the people of Nemuro on the basis of these petitions. It also analyses the Japanese official position toward this issue and clarifies how the national policy of the return of "The Northern Territories" had been formed