1 Publication source: Hosei University, Faculty of Law, Hougaku Shirin (Review of Law and Political Science); Vol. 111 (No. 4), pp.118-148; March 2014. The Kuril Islands dispute and the role mutual perceptions in the Japanese-Soviet/Russian relations Svetlana Vassiliouk, Ph.D. (Senior Assistant Professor, School of Global Japanese Studies, Meiji University) ABSTRACT: The territorial dispute over the four southernmost Kuril Islands of Shikotan, Kunashir, Iturup, and the Habomai Islets, has dominated the political, economic, and even cultural relations between the Soviet Union/Russia and Japan during the past sixty years. Because of the dispute over the “Northern territories” (as Japan calls them) or the “Southern Kurils” (as Russia refers to them), the two countries are still technically at war, since a peace treaty following World War II has never been signed and the borders have not been settled. The unresolved territorial dispute between Japan and Russia remains the largest obstacle to fully normalizing bilateral relations between the two nations. In addition to examining the impact of the territorial dispute on the Japanese-Soviet/Russian relations, this paper examines the two countries’ relations from the perspective of mutual perceptions. This paper argues that the Kuril territorial dispute has presented a major obstacle in Japan and the USSR/Russia’ s improving their mutual trust as well as has greatly affected the two nations’ perceptions of each other. The paper in particular raises the questions why the domestic attitudes in Japan have been consistently negative towards Russia and less approving of any compromise on the territorial issue, while those in Russia have significantly improved in recent years. In addition to the analysis of why there has not been any breakthrough in the bilateral relations, this paper offers a broader view, by tracking the evolution of the mutual perceptions/public opinion as well as national and regional sentiments in both countries and examining the relationship of the “regional/local” factor and its influence on the two countries’ relations vis-à-vis one another. Drawing on many resources, including opinion polls from both countries, this paper attempts to offers a complex, balanced approach and uses an analytical framework that incorporates both national and local factors to discuss this relatively less-explored area of Japanese-Russian relations. Key words: Japan, Russia, Japanese-Soviet relations, Japanese-Russian relations, the Kuril Islands, the Northern Territories