In the first half of this month, China and Russia each showed moves to intensify pressure on Japan over maritime and territorial issues.

Regarding the Senkaku Islands, on February 1, it was confirmed that two of the four China Coast Guard vessels navigating the contiguous zone around the Senkaku Islands were 5,000-ton-class ships. It is said to be highly unusual for the coast guard to simultaneously deploy two such large vessels around the Senkakus. On the same day, marking five years since the enforcement of the China Coast Guard Law, the coast guard released for the first time footage filmed from a coast guard vessel sailing within Japan’s territorial waters around the Senkaku Islands.

Regarding the Northern Territories, visits to the graves of former island residents were conducted from 1964 to 2020, when they were suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic and the war in Ukraine. The Russian foreign minister said former residents would need a Russian visa to visit relatives’ graves, effectively rejecting Japan’s request to resume the visits. On February 7, “Northern Territories Day,” Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said the matter is a humanitarian issue and “one of the top priorities” in bilateral relations, and Japan will patiently urge Russia to resume it.