Japan's Foreign Ministry has published a diplomatic guidebook "The Blue Book of Diplomacy," which for the first time in 19 years recognizes the Southern Kurils as "illegally occupied by Russia. This is reported by the publication NHK.
It is noted that the Northern Territories are "a territory inherent in Japan, but currently illegally occupied by Russia. This has not been in the document since 2011.
"The Blue Book of Diplomacy" is a document summarizing Japanese diplomatic policy, published annually since 1957.
On March 7, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida called the southern part of the Kuril Islands Japanese ancestral territories. Subsequently, Russia said it would no longer continue negotiations with Japan on a peace treaty on the islands.