Row Over Japan Consul Spy Accusation Risks Tension at Another Russia Border

As the war in Ukraine and tensions with NATO flare along Russia's western frontier, the dispute over a Japanese diplomat detained and expelled from Russia over allegations of espionage is threatening to reignite another feud along its eastern border.

The row began Monday when Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) announced it had "stopped the espionage activity of Motoki Tatsunori, consul of the Consulate General of Japan in Vladivostok." The statement said that Tatsunori was "detained red-handed while receiving classified information, in exchange for money, about Russia's co-operation with another country in the Asia-Pacific region."

The FSB then released a video purporting to show the Japanese diplomat admitting to violating Russian law in a clip that Newsweek could not independently verify. The Russian Foreign Ministry summoned the head of Japan's Vladivostok consulate and declared Tatsunori "persona non grata" for "activities that are incompatible with the status of a consular officer and detrimental to Russia's security interests," and gave him 48 hours to leave the country.

Japan has reacted strongly to the incident, with Foreign Minister Hayashi Yoshimasa and Chief Cabinet Secretary Matsuno Hirokazu both denying the Russian allegations and accusing Russian authorities of mistreating their compatriot.

"It is against facts that this consul was engaged in illegal activities as Russian side claims," a Japanese official told Newsweek.

The official said that the consul "was taken away without being able to move, being constantly blindfolded with his hands and head being suppressed, and was placed under grueling investigation."

"Such acts by the Russian side are a clear and serious violation of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations as well as bilateral consular agreements, and are deplorable and unacceptable," the official added. "We also protest strongly against the inconceivable declaration of persona non grata for this consul in the wake of such unjust treatment."

Russia's ambassador to Japan, Mikhail Galuzin, has rejected Tokyo's reaction, saying Tuesday it was Tatsunori who "was acting in violation of his authority, and disobeyed our laws and the Vienna Convention," according to comments carried by the state-run TASS Russian News Agency.

"It is rather the Russian side who has every reason to protest, as expressed yesterday," Galuzin said. "And it has cause to demand apologies for such behavior of the Japanese diplomat and demand that such actions by Japanese diplomats in Russia be prevented in the future."

The Russian envoy defended the actions of his country's authorities. He also framed Tokyo's response in the context of Japan's support for greater measures against Russia,
saying "when the collective West is seeking to exert heavy pressure on Russia and force it to change its policy," the diplomatic service "is working in the regime of readiness for any emergency situations," which "can be said about this matter as well."

Newsweek has contacted the Russian Embassy in Japan for comment.

Tokyo has been a vocal critic of Moscow's war effort in Ukraine, a conflict that has raised concerns over the stability of the Asia-Pacific region. While Japan has frequently protested Chinese attempts to enforce claims to the disputed Japan-administered East China Sea Pinnacle Islands, known as the Senkaku Islands to Tokyo and as the Diaoyu Islands to Beijing, the U.S. ally also remains locked in a territorial row with Russia over an island chain to the north.

Four of the southernmost Russia-controlled land masses that make up the chain referred to by Russia as the southern Kuril Islands and by Japan as the Northern Territories have been the subject of an ongoing dispute lasting more than 75 years, which has prevented the two neighbors from signing a post-World War II peace treaty. In the midst of that conflict, the U.S. and the Soviet Union were allies and Washington tacitly backed Moscow's incursion into northern Japan until dropping the atomic bombs that brought an end to the war.

First under U.S. occupation and then as a sovereign state, Japan would soon emerge as a leading U.S. ally in the region, however, and Washington has since consistently backed Tokyo's claim to the islands. Bilateral attempts to resolve the issue have produced an agreement allowing Japanese nationals with historic connections to the islands to visit. But Russia withdrew from the deal earlier this month in response to Japanese sanctions against Russia over the war in Ukraine.

Russia, joined by China, has also protested against the large U.S. military presence in Japan. In addition to hosting around 56,000 U.S. troops — more than any other foreign nation in the world — along with an array of U.S. military assets, Japan also operates the advanced U.S.-built Aegis anti-air system, the land-based version of which has been at the center of Russia's criticism of growing NATO presence in eastern Europe.

Moscow and Beijing, for their part, have increasingly conducted joint exercises in the region, including a series of live-fire drills held in the Sea of Japan earlier this month.

And as Japan continued down the path of broadening and enhancing its military capabilities away from the original narrowly defined role mandated by its pacifist post-World War II constitution, Russia has stationed more military assets near the islands in recent years. Referencing the disputed territories at a naval ceremony in July, Russian President Vladimir Putin declared that his armed forces "will firmly provide for their protection by all means" as a new maritime military doctrine was signed.

Russia's military build-up and strategic focus on these islands were the subjects of a report published Tuesday by the Center for Strategic and International Studies' Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative. In it, author Ike Barrash outlined the deployment of platforms such as the Tor-M2U surface-to-air missile system, Bastion and Bal anti-ship missile systems and S-300 anti-missile and anti-air batteries, along with extensive construction to house additional troops in recent years.

"The Kuril Islands are strategically located," Barrash wrote. "They separate the Sea of Okhotsk from the wider Pacific Ocean, marking a vital point of egress for Russia's Pacific Fleet. They also provide Russia valuable forward basing options for fires and intelligence collection."

He saw the islands as a continuing friction point between the two nations.

"Russia's steps to boost its presence suggest that the islands will continue to play a pernicious role in the future of Russo-Japanese relations," Barrash wrote, "and that Japan and the United States should deepen consultations regarding Russia's activities in the region."

In addition to Japan-U.S. engagement, Barrash suggested that "such deliberations could be paired with renewed diplomatic talks with Russia to slow further militarization and prevent accidental escalation."