In the north of Japan the dispute with Russia is a fall out of an historical legacy that dates back to more than one hundred years. Japan and Russia never enjoyed good neighbourly relationship as claims and counterclaims over the ownership of territories expanding towards the northern tip of the Pacific Rim resulted in direct confrontation between the two countries from the early days of their diplomatic encounter. The island of Sakhalin, the southern half of which Japan claimed as a reward for defeating the Russians in the Russo-Japanese War of 1905, has been returned to Russian ownership after Japan's defeat in 1945; so is the long chain of Islands in the north known as the Kuriles. But Japan's claim that the four southern islands of that chain not being part of Kurile Island revived Tokyo's demand over their sovereignty and the issue is standing as a roadblock in restoring normal diplomatic relationship between the two countries. Japan and Russia is yet to sign a peace treaty officially declaring an end to World War II hostility. As a result, Japan's northern border is not free of problems.

Of the five neighbours, Tokyo's relationship with South Korea is considered to be the closest. This is mostly due to their firm belonging to the American sphere of influence since the early days of Cold War. But here too, historical legacy continues to create new problems as the memory of Japan's colonial domination over the Korean peninsula lingers as an obstacle not easy to overcome. Moreover, the two countries have recently locked into a territorial dispute that some observers see as an issue with disruptive potentiality.

A small island situated midway between Japan and Korea and known in Japan as Takeshima was placed under Shimane Prefecture by the Meiji government in 1905. South Koreans claim that Japan forcibly took control of the island at a time when Korea was under Japan's colonial domination and thus unable to protest. The Japanese, on the other hand, claim the island to be theirs.

The Japanese government was annoyed by a recent decision by the postal authority of South Korea to issue a postage stamp depicting the island as an integral part of the country and criticised the decision being of provocative nature. The Japanese postal department later decided to retaliate with a counter measure, although the postage stamp in Japan is yet to be issued.

Japan's territorial dispute with China involves a group of uninhabited islets situated adjacent to Taiwan and about 100 miles north and west of Okinawa. Known as Senkaku Islands, they were included in Okinawa Prefecture by the Japanese government in 1896, lost in World War II, and returned to Japan by the United States in 1971, at the same time when the control of Okinawa was handed back to Japan.

The group of islets contains rich fishing areas and undersea oil deposits, making them worthy possessions from economic consideration. Since the late 1960s, both China and Taiwan have claimed the ownership of the islands, sighting the same reason as South Korea that they were forcibly taken over by Japan at a time when Japan's neighbours were too weak to protest. From mid-1990s, their ownership became a source of major disputes and demonstrations by nationalistic groups in both China and Japan. The recent incident of seven Chinese citizens landing in one of the islands of Senkaku group, known in China as Daioyu, is a continuation of that nationalistic fervour at a time when the two countries are refraining from exchanging visits by top leaders in the aftermath of Japanese prime minister's repeated visits to the controversial Yasukuni Shrine.

According to Japanese officials in Tokyo, the seven Chinese flag waving activists landed on the main island of the Senkaku group early last Wednesday in two small fishing boats. The activists were soon arrested on charges of suspected illegal entry into Japanese territory and thus violating Japan's immigration control and refugee recognition law. They were later taken to Naha, the main city of Okinawa. Where the seven went through full scale questioning.

Meanwhile, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman in Beijing said China had lodged protest over the arrest of seven activists and demanded that the Japanese government guarantee their safety and release them immediately and unconditionally. The spokesman also said the arrest was a challenge to Chinese sovereignty over its territory and to the human rights of Chinese citizens. And in Beijing, as angry Chinese protesters torched Japanese flags outside the Japanese embassy while Chinese police stood by watching, Tokyo was quick to criticise and condemn the act as a very regrettable one. Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi informed reporters that Japan has lodged official protest to the Chinese government.

The rapid deterioration of the situation called for utmost concern of both the governments and Chinese and Japanese sides eventually have dealt with the matter calmly, resulting in the deportation of the arrested seven. According to normal procedure, Japanese police were expected to send the arrested Chinese activists to public prosecutors for indictment. But instead, authorities decided to return them to China out of diplomatic concern, thus defusing the tension for time being.

It looks like as if China and Japan have avoided successfully the possibility of slipping out of hand a situation with the potentiality of drifting the neighbours further apart. Territorial disputes arouse patriotic fervour, and as we know, patriotic fervour breeds distrust and hostility. To find a durable solution of the problem, the neighbours, however, have to do more than simply resorting to temporary measures. The problem of Senkaku is related more to its strategic situation than the historical perspective. The islands are located in a strategic area, potentially rich in oil reserves. Hence there is a need to include the issue in top-level discussion and try to find out a solution acceptable to both sides. But the mood so far seems to be running contrary to anything closer to that.