For the past several years, Japanese diplomacy has paid great attention to relations with Russia. After the second Abe cabinet was established in 2012, beginning with his visit to Russia in April 2013, Prime Minister Abe adopted positive diplomacy toward Russia, realizing as many as 18 summits by the time of the July 2017 G20 sidelines meeting with President Putin. This is the greatest number of summits with any country’s leader, even exceeding the total with presidents of Japan’s ally, the United States, leaving no doubt about the stress the Abe administration places on Russia. After the 2014 Ukraine crisis, when, beginning with the United States, the G7 countries shifted in parallel to a hardline posture toward Russia, only Japan stuck to its position toward Russia, including on security.¹ Moreover, while Japan joined in the economic sanctions on Russia as a member of the G7, it established in 2016 a minister in charge of economic cooperation with Russia and, then, sought to advance such cooperation through an “8-point economic cooperation plan.” In this article, I analyze the background behind the Japanese government’s position, explaining how it has endured despite Russian military pressure tactics to influence any outcome.

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