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Kurile Islands - 1990

Kurile Islands - 1990

Jacek Pałkiewicz
2006-06-17 15:59:04

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More than fifty years have passed since the end of World War II, and no peace treaty has been concluded between Japan and the former Soviet Union. The reason for this delay is the unresolved Northern Territory issue. In the aftermath of World War II, Japan lost those islands, the Kuriles to Russia. Russia clings to its territory in the rich fishing grounds of the North Pacific, defying, Japan, which wants the southern Kuriles, the islands of Habomai, Shikotan, Etorofu and Kunashir back. It is considered that the territorial dispute is both political and economic issue. On the other hand, the inhabitants on the islands just wish their hard lives to get easier, especially after the Cold War, due to economic difficulties without much help from the Russian government.

History

Japan and Russia have a long and contentious history in the Kurile Islands. Cossack trappers in search of fur seal and sea otter came from the north in the 1700s, even as Japan's powerful Matsumae clan was trying to subjugate the native people in the southern Kuril islands. These people, who came to be called, Ainu are of mysterious origins, but they may have migrated from northeast Asia thousands of years ago, settling as far as south as Hokkaido. Scholars have advocated various theories about the origin of Ainu people. The theories include the Caucasoid (Caucasian) theory, the Mongoloid theory, the Oceanis Race theory, the Old Asian Race theory and others. However, there is no precisely proven and believed theory about the Ainu. No Ainu live in the Kuriles today, but about 24,000 Japanese report Ainu ancestry.

Ainu who lived in Hokkaido, the Kurile Islands and Sakhalin were called "Hokkaido Ainu," "Kurile Ainu" and "Sakhalin Ainu" respectively. The Ainu people regarded things useful to them or beyond their control as the result of "kamuy" or god. In daily life, they prayed to and performed various ceremonies for the gods. These gods ...