Tokyo's territorial claims to Russia violate Japan's act of surrender. Japan: Ominous echo of war Along the meridian of Omsk

Deputy Director of the Department of Nonproliferation and Arms Control of the Russian Foreign Ministry Vladislav Antonyuk made a statement that the process of destroying chemical weapons left in China by the Japanese Kwantung Army during World War II is proceeding slowly, and this poses a threat to Russia’s ecology. “We are constantly monitoring the situation; there is a threat to the Far East, since many ammunition was buried in river beds, which, in general, are transboundary,” the diplomat said at a meeting of the Federation Council Committee on Defense and Security.

00:15 — REGNUM At the request of the PRC, Japan is also participating in the elimination of Japanese chemical weapons remaining on Chinese territory. However, since “detonation technology, which does not imply high rates,” is used to destroy deadly toxic substances, the elimination, according to Antonyuk, “could drag on for many decades.” If the Japanese side claims that more than 700 thousand chemical shells are subject to disposal, then, according to Chinese data, there are over two million of them.

There is information that during the post-war period about two thousand Chinese died from Japanese chemical weapons. For example, there is a known case in 2003 when construction workers from the Chinese city of Qiqihar, Heilongjiang Province, discovered five metal barrels with chemical weapons in the ground and, when trying to open them, were severely poisoned, as a result of which 36 people were hospitalized for a long time.

In the reference literature we find information that in 1933 Japan secretly purchased equipment for the production of mustard gas from Germany (this became possible after the Nazis came to power) and began producing it in Hiroshima Prefecture. Subsequently, military chemical plants appeared in other cities of Japan, and then in the occupied territory of China. The activities of military chemical laboratories were carried out in close contact with the institute for the development of bacteriological weapons, known as “the devil’s kitchen” - “detachment No. 731”. Military research institutes of prohibited bacteriological and chemical weapons were created by order of the Commander-in-Chief of the Japanese Armed Forces, Emperor Hirohito, and were part of the Main Directorate of Armaments of the Japanese Army, subordinate directly to the Minister of War. The most famous chemical weapons research institute was “detachment No. 516”.

Combat agents were tested in China on prisoners of war of the Kuomintang and the Communist Party of China, as well as on Russian emigrants and simply Chinese peasants, whom the gendarmerie caught for these purposes. For field testing, we went to a training ground: there people were tied to wooden poles and chemical munitions were exploded.

Quote from the film “The Man Behind the Sun”. Dir. Tung Fei Mou. 1988. Hong Kong - China

One of the publications regarding the inhumane experiments of Japanese monsters in white coats reports: “The experiments were carried out in two - small and large, specially designed - chambers connected into one system. Mustard gas, hydrogen cyanide or carbon monoxide was pumped into a large chamber intended to regulate the concentration of the toxic substance. Air with a certain concentration of gas was supplied through pipes equipped with a valve into a small chamber where the experimental subject was placed. Almost the entire small chamber, with the exception of the back wall and ceiling, was made of bulletproof glass, through which observations and recording of experiments were carried out on film.

A Shimadzu device was installed in a large chamber to determine the gas concentration in the air. With its help, the relationship between the gas concentration and the time of death of the experimental subject was determined. For the same purpose, animals were placed in a small chamber with people. According to a former employee of “detachment No. 516,” experiments showed that “the endurance of a person is approximately equal to the endurance of a pigeon: in the conditions in which the pigeon died, the experimental person also died.”

As a rule, experiments were carried out on prisoners who had already been subjected in “detachment No. 731” to experiments on obtaining blood serum or frostbite. Sometimes they were put on gas masks and military uniforms, or, conversely, they were completely naked, leaving only loincloths.

One prisoner was used for each experiment, and on average 4-5 people were sent to the gas chamber per day. Usually the experiments lasted the whole day, from morning to evening, and in total more than 50 of them were carried out in “detachment No. 731.” “Experiments with poisonous gases were carried out in “detachment No. 731” at the level of the latest scientific achievements,” testified a former employee of the detachment from among senior officers. “It took only 5-7 minutes to kill a test subject in a gas chamber.”

In many large cities of China, the Japanese army built military chemical plants and warehouses for storing chemical agents. One of the large factories was located in Qiqihar; it specialized in equipping aerial bombs, artillery shells and mines with mustard gas. The central warehouse of the Kwantung Army with chemical shells was located in the city of Changchun, and its branches were in Harbin, Jirin and other cities. In addition, numerous warehouses with chemical agents were located in the areas of Hulin, Mudanjiang and others. Formations and units of the Kwantung Army had battalions and separate companies for infesting the area, and chemical detachments had mortar batteries that could be used to use toxic substances.

During the war, the Japanese army had the following poisonous gases at its disposal: “yellow” No. 1 (mustard gas), “yellow” No. 2 (lewisite), “tea” (hydrogen cyanide), “blue” (phosgenoxine), “red” (diphenylcyanarsine ). Approximately 25% of the Japanese Army's artillery and 30% of its aviation ammunition were chemically charged.

Japanese army documents show that chemical weapons were widely used in the war in China from 1937 to 1945. About 400 cases of combat use of this weapon are known for certain. However, there is also information that this figure actually ranges from 530 to 2000. It is believed that more than 60 thousand people became victims of Japanese chemical weapons, although their real number may be much higher. In some battles, the losses of Chinese troops from toxic substances amounted to up to 10%. The reason for this was the lack of chemical protection equipment and poor chemical training among the Chinese - there were no gas masks, very few chemical instructors were trained, and most bomb shelters did not have chemical protection.

The most massive use of chemical weapons was in the summer of 1938 during one of the largest operations of the Japanese army in the area of the Chinese city of Wuhan. The purpose of the operation was to victoriously end the war in China and focus on preparations for the war against the USSR. During this operation, 40 thousand canisters and ammunition containing diphenylcyanarcine gas were used, which led to the death of a large number of people, including civilians.

Here is evidence from researchers of Japanese “chemical warfare”: “During the “Battle of Wuhan” (Wuhan city in Hubei province) from August 20 to November 12, 1938, the Japanese 2nd and 11th armies used chemical weapons at least 375 times (consumed 48 thousand chemical shells). More than 9,000 chemical mortars and 43,000 chemical agent cylinders were used in the chemical attacks.

On October 1, 1938, during the Battle of Dingxiang (Shanxi Province), the Japanese fired 2,500 chemical shells into an area of 2,700 square meters.

In March 1939, chemical weapons were used against Kuomintang troops stationed in Nanchang. The full staff of the two divisions - about 20,000 thousand people - died as a result of poisoning. Since August 1940, the Japanese have used chemical weapons along railway lines in Northern China 11 times, resulting in the deaths of over 10,000 Chinese troops. In August 1941, 5 thousand military personnel and civilians died as a result of a chemical attack on an anti-Japanese base. 600 Chinese troops were killed in a mustard gas attack in Yichang, Hubei Province, and another 1,000 were injured.

In October 1941, Japanese aircraft carried out one of the massive raids on Wuhan (60 aircraft were involved) using chemical bombs. As a result, thousands of civilians died. On May 28, 1942, during a punitive operation in the village of Beitang, Dingxian County, Hebei Province, over 1,000 peasants and militias hiding in the catacombs were killed with asphyxiating gases” (See “Beitang Tragedy”).

Chemical weapons, like bacteriological weapons, were planned to be used during the war against the Soviet Union. Such plans were maintained in the Japanese army until its surrender. These misanthropic plans were thwarted as a result of the entry into the war against militaristic Japan by the Soviet Union, which saved the peoples from the horrors of bacteriological and chemical destruction. The commander of the Kwantung Army, General Otozo Yamada, admitted at the trial: “The entry of the Soviet Union into the war against Japan and the rapid advance of Soviet troops deep into Manchuria deprived us of the opportunity to use bacteriological weapons against the USSR and other countries.”

The accumulation of huge quantities of bacteriological and chemical weapons and plans to use them in the war with the Soviet Union indicate that militaristic Japan, like Nazi Germany, sought to wage a total war against the USSR and its people with the goal of mass extermination of Soviet people.

@ Anatoly Koshkin
Among the comments on one of my articles, I read the opinion of a female student: “Of course, there is no need to give up the Kuril Islands. I think they will be useful to us too. But since the Japanese so persistently demand the island, they probably have some reason for this. They say they refer to the fact that Moscow, they say, has no legal rights to own the islands.” I believe that clarification of this issue now, when the Japanese side is again exaggerating the so-called “territorial issue,” is especially appropriate.

The reader can learn about how the Kuril Islands, which belonged to the Russian Empire since 1786, passed from hand to hand from the relevant historical literature. Therefore, let's start from 1945.

In the 8th paragraph of the Potsdam Declaration of the Allied Powers on the conditions of the unconditional surrender of militaristic Japan it is written: “The conditions of the Cairo Declaration must be fulfilled, Japanese sovereignty will be limited to the islands of Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu, Shikoku and smaller islands that we indicate.”

During the period of heated discussion within the top leadership of militaristic Japan about developing an attitude towards the Potsdam Declaration, namely, disputes about whether to capitulate on its basis or not, this point was practically not discussed. The Japanese “war party,” which did not want to lay down its arms, was concerned not about the territory of the defeated country, but about its own fate. The generals agreed to capitulate only on the condition that the existing political system was preserved, the Japanese themselves punished war criminals, independently disarmaed, and prevented the occupation of Japan by the Allies.

As for territorial possessions, they were considered as a subject of bargaining when trying to get out of the war, avoiding capitulation. Sacrifice something, bargain something. At the same time, a special role in diplomatic maneuvers belonged to Southern Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands, torn away by Japan from Russia. These lands were supposed to be ceded to the USSR in exchange for its refusal to enter the war against Japan on the side of the United States and Great Britain. Moreover, in the summer of 1945, information was brought to the attention of the Soviet leadership about the possibility of a “voluntary” transfer to the Soviet Union of one of the main islands of the Japanese archipelago - Hokkaido, which, unlike South Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands, Moscow never claimed. This was allowed in the expectation that Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, instead of declaring war, would act as a mediator between the warring parties in armistice negotiations on terms favorable to Japan.

However, history decreed differently. As a result of the USSR's entry into the war and the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Japanese elite had no choice but unconditional surrender with the adoption of all points of the Potsdam Declaration, which the Japanese government pledged to strictly observe.

In paragraph 6 of the Japanese Surrender Act of September 2, 1945, it is written: “We hereby pledge that the Japanese government and its successors will honestly implement the terms of the Potsdam Declaration, give those orders and take those actions that, in order to implement this declaration, require Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers or any other representative designated by the Allied Powers." Having accepted the terms of the Potsdam Declaration, the Japanese government also agreed with the point indicated in it about the future borders of their country.

In the “General Order No. 1” of the command of the Allied forces on the surrender of the Japanese armed forces, approved by US President Harry Truman, it was determined: “Include All(emphasis added by the author) Kuril Islands to an area that must capitulate to the Commander-in-Chief of the Soviet Armed Forces in the Far East." Fulfilling this provision of the order, Soviet troops occupied the islands of the Kuril chain all the way to Hokkaido. In this regard, it is difficult to agree with the statement of the Japanese government that the Soviet command allegedly intended to occupy the Kuril Islands only up to the island of Urup, and occupied the islands of Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan and Habomai only after “learning of the absence (of) American troops.” The geographical innovation invented after the war about the “non-inclusion” of these four islands into the Kuril ridge (Japanese name - Chishima retto) is refuted by Japanese documents and maps of the pre-war and war periods.

Of fundamental importance is the directive of the commander of the occupation forces in Japan, General Douglas MacArthur No. 677/1 of January 29, 1946, in which, in pursuance of the 8th paragraph of the Potsdam Declaration, the allied command determined the islands that were withdrawn from Japanese sovereignty. Along with other territories, Japan lost all the islands north of Hokkaido. The directive clearly stated that the Chishima Islands (Kuril Islands), as well as the Habomai group of islands (Sushio, Yuri, Akiyuri, Shibotsu, Taraku) and the island of Shikotan were excluded from the jurisdiction of the state or administrative authorities of Japan. The Japanese government did not object, because this was in accordance with the terms of surrender.

Following the publication of a directive in pursuance of the Yalta Agreement on the return of Southern Sakhalin and the transfer of the Kuril Islands to the USSR, on February 2, 1946, by decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, the Yuzhno-Sakhalin Region was formed in these territories and included it in the Khabarovsk Territory of the RSFSR.

The agreement of the Japanese government with the decision of the allied powers to withdraw all the Kuril Islands from the Japanese state is contained in the text of the San Francisco Peace Treaty of 1951. Clause c) of Article 2 of the treaty states: “Japan renounces all rights, title and claims to the Kuril Islands and to that part of Sakhalin Island and the adjacent islands over which Japan acquired sovereignty under the Treaty of Portsmouth of September 5, 1905.”

Then the Japanese government proceeded from the fact that the Kuril Islands (Chishima Islands) ceased to be Japanese territory. This was clearly demonstrated during the ratification of the San Francisco Peace Treaty in the Japanese Parliament. The head of the treaty department of the Japanese Foreign Ministry, Kumao Nishimura, made the following statement in the House of Representatives on October 6, 1951: “Since Japan had to renounce sovereignty over the Chishima Islands, it has lost the right to vote on the final decision on the issue of their ownership. Since Japan, by the peace treaty, agreed to renounce sovereignty over these territories, this issue, to the extent that it relates to her, is resolved.” Nishimura’s statement in parliament on October 19, 1951 is also known that “the territorial limits of the Chishima Archipelago, which is referred to in the treaty, include both Northern Chishima and Southern Chishima.” Thus, when ratifying the San Francisco Peace Treaty, the highest legislative body of the Japanese state stated the fact that Japan had renounced all the islands of the Kuril chain.

After the ratification of the San Francisco Treaty, there was a consensus in the Japanese political world that in the course of a peace settlement with the USSR, territorial claims should be limited only to the islands close to Hokkaido, namely, to seek the return of only the Lesser Kuril ridge of Habomai and the island of Shikotan. This was recorded in a unanimous parliamentary resolution of all political parties in Japan dated July 31, 1952. This effectively recognized the USSR's ownership of the remaining Kuril Islands, including Kunashir and Iturup.

Although at the Japanese-Soviet negotiations to end the state of war and conclude a peace treaty, the Japanese delegation initially put forward claims to all the Kuril Islands and the southern half of Sakhalin, in reality the task was to return only the islands of Habomai and Shikotan to Japan. Plenipotentiary representative of the Japanese government at the Soviet-Japanese negotiations 1955−1956.

Recently, the Japanese media and scientific research have begun to recognize the fact of an arbitrary demand for the “return of the northern territories” - the islands of Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan and the Habomai ridge under pressure from those uninterested in the Soviet-Japanese normalization of the United States and the anti-Soviet part of the Japanese establishment. It was they who came up with the previously non-existent propaganda slogan of “the fight for the northern territories” in March 1956. This was done in order to avoid the name Chishima (Kuril Islands) in slogans, which, as stated above, Japan has officially abandoned. By the way, it is important to realize that in addition to the requirement of the four southern islands of the Kuril chain, in Japan there is also a broad interpretation of the invented concept of “northern territories”, namely, the inclusion of the entire Kuril chain, up to Kamchatka, as well as Karafuto, that is, Sakhalin.

The legal basis for bilateral relations was created by the signing on October 19, 1956, and then the ratification of the Joint Declaration of the USSR and Japan, which ended the state of war and restored diplomatic and consular relations between the two countries. As a gesture of goodwill, the then Soviet government agreed to include the following provision in the text of the declaration: “...The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, meeting the wishes of Japan and taking into account the interests of the Japanese state, agrees to the transfer to Japan of the islands of Habomai and the island of Sikotan (Shikotan), however, that the actual transfer of these islands to Japan will take place after the conclusion of the Peace Treaty between the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and Japan.” By signing and ratifying this document, the Japanese government legally recognized the ownership of South Sakhalin and all the Kuril Islands by the Soviet Union, since the latter could only “transfer” its territory to another state.

As representatives of the Russian Foreign Ministry have repeatedly pointed out, the position taken by the Japanese government indicates its open non-recognition of the results of World War II and the demand for their revision.

Let us note that the claims of the Japanese government to the territories, the ownership of which is enshrined in the Constitution of the Russian Federation, fall under the concept of “revanchism”. As is known, in the political lexicon, revanchism (French revanchisme, from revanche - “vengeance”) means “the desire to revise the results of defeats in the past, to return territories lost in the war.” Attempts to accuse the Russian Federation of allegedly “illegal occupation and retention of the Kuril Islands,” in our opinion, create a situation where the Russian government, if such allegations continue at the official level, has the right to raise this issue with the international community at the UN, as well as file a claim with the International court in The Hague.

Let us recall that Japan has “territorial problems” with all neighboring states. Thus, the government of the Republic of Korea strongly protests against the inclusion of Japanese claims to the Seoul-administered Dokdo Islands in government White Papers on foreign policy and defense, as well as in school textbooks. The tense situation also continues in the area of the Japanese-held Diaoyu (Senkaku) Islands, which the PRC claims, citing historical documents and facts. Needless to say, building up excitement around territorial claims to neighboring states does not unite, but divides peoples, sows discord between them, and is even fraught with confrontation, including military confrontation.

In April 2016, on the eve of negotiations between the Russian and Japanese Foreign Ministers Sergei Lavrov and Fumio Kishida, the right-wing nationalist Japanese newspaper Sankei Shimbun demanded that the Russian government “return” the Kuril Islands, apologize for their “illegal abduction” and admit “Moscow’s violation of the pact on neutrality,” which Tokyo supposedly implemented steadily and honestly.
"Rodina" wrote in detail about the results of the Yalta Conference and the diplomatic conflicts that dotted the i's on the issue of the islands ("The Kuril issue was resolved. In 1945", No. 12 for 2015). The 70th anniversary of the start of the Tokyo Tribunal is a good occasion to recall how “honestly and conscientiously” Japan fulfilled the terms of the Soviet-Japanese Neutrality Pact.

Verdict of the International Tribunal

The International Military Tribunal for the Far East - the trial "of persons accused individually, or as members of organizations, or as both, of committing any offenses constituting crimes against peace" - was held in Tokyo from May 3, 1946 to November 12, 1948. The verdict stated: “The Tribunal considers that an aggressive war against the USSR was envisaged and planned by Japan during the period under review, that it was one of the main elements of Japanese national policy and that its goal was the seizure of USSR territory in the Far East.”

Another quote: “It is obvious that Japan was not sincere when concluding a neutrality pact with the Soviet Union (April 1941 - Author) and, considering its agreements with Germany more profitable, signed a neutrality pact in order to facilitate the implementation of its plans attacks on the USSR..."

And finally, one more: “The evidence presented to the Tribunal indicates that Japan, far from being neutral, as it should have been in accordance with the pact concluded with the USSR, provided significant assistance to Germany.”

Let's dwell on this in more detail.

"Blitzkrieg" in the Kremlin

On April 13, 1941, at a banquet in the Kremlin on the occasion of the signing of the Neutrality Pact (Japanese Foreign Minister Yosuke Matsuoka called it a “diplomatic blitzkrieg”), an atmosphere of satisfaction reigned. According to eyewitnesses, Joseph Stalin, trying to emphasize his cordiality, personally moved plates of food to the guests and poured wine. Raising his glass, Matsuoka said, "The agreement is signed. I am not lying. If I lie, my head will be yours. If you lie, I will come for your head."

Stalin winced, and then said with all seriousness: “My head is important for my country. Just like yours is for your country. Let's make sure that our heads remain on our shoulders.” And, having already said goodbye to the Japanese minister in the Kremlin, he unexpectedly appeared at the Yaroslavl station to personally see off Matsuoka. One of a kind case! With this gesture, the Soviet leader considered it necessary to emphasize the importance of the Soviet-Japanese agreement. And to emphasize this to both the Japanese and the Germans.

Knowing that von Schulenburg was among those seeing off the German ambassador in Moscow, Stalin defiantly hugged the Japanese minister on the platform: “You are an Asian and I am an Asian... If we are together, all the problems of Asia can be solved.” Matsuoka echoed him: “The problems of the whole world can be solved.”

But Japanese military circles, unlike politicians, did not attach much importance to the Neutrality Pact. In the same hours, on April 14, 1941, in the “Secret War Diary” of the Japanese General Staff, an entry was made: “The significance of this treaty is not to ensure an armed offensive in the south. The treaty is not a means to avoid war with the United States. It only provides additional time to make an independent decision to start a war against the Soviets." In the same April 1941, War Minister Hideki Tojo spoke out even more clearly: “Despite the pact, we will actively carry out military preparations against the USSR.”

The same is evidenced by the statement made on April 26 by the chief of staff of the Kwantung Army located near the borders of the USSR, General Kimura, at a meeting of formation commanders: “It is necessary, on the one hand, to increasingly strengthen and expand preparations for a war with the USSR, and on the other, to maintain friendly relations with the USSR , striving to maintain armed peace, and at the same time prepare for operations against the Soviet Union, which at the decisive moment will bring certain victory to Japan."

Soviet intelligence, including its resident Richard Sorge, promptly and objectively informed Moscow about these sentiments. Stalin understood that the Japanese would not weaken their combat readiness on the borders with the USSR. But he believed that non-aggression pacts with Germany and neutrality with Japan would help buy time. However, these hopes were not realized.

August 29, day "X"

Already on June 22, 1941, the above-mentioned Foreign Minister Matsuoka, urgently arriving at Emperor Hirohito, insistently suggested that he immediately attack the Soviet Union: “We need to start from the north and then go south. Without entering the tiger’s cave, you cannot pull out the tiger cub. We need to decide."

The issue of an attack on the USSR in the summer of 1941 was discussed in detail at a secret meeting held on July 2 in the presence of the emperor. The Chairman of the Privy Council (an advisory body to the Emperor), Kado Hara, said bluntly: “I believe all of you will agree that a war between Germany and the Soviet Union is indeed Japan’s historic opportunity. Since the Soviet Union is encouraging the spread of communism in the world, we will be forced to sooner or later it is too late to attack him. But since the empire is still busy with the Chinese incident, we are not free to decide to attack the Soviet Union as we would like. However, I believe that we should attack the Soviet Union at an opportune moment. .. I wish that we would attack the Soviet Union... Some may say that due to the Japanese Neutrality Pact, it would be unethical to attack the Soviet Union... If we attack it, no one will consider it a betrayal . I am looking forward to striking at the Soviet Union. I ask the army and the government to do so as soon as possible. The Soviet Union must be destroyed."

As a result of the meeting, the National Policy Program of the Empire was adopted: “Our attitude towards the German-Soviet war will be determined in accordance with the spirit of the Tripartite Pact (Japan, Germany and Italy). However, for now we will not interfere in this conflict. We will secretly strengthen our military preparations against the Soviet Union, adhering to an independent position... If the German-Soviet war develops in a direction favorable to the empire, we will resolve the northern problem by resorting to armed force..."

The decision to attack the USSR - at the moment when it weakened in the fight against Nazi Germany - was called the “ripe persimmon strategy” in Japan.

Help for Hitler from the East

Today, Japanese propagandists and some of their supporters in our country claim that the attack did not take place because Japan honestly fulfilled the terms of the neutrality pact. In fact, the reason was the failure of the German “blitzkrieg” plan. And even official Japanese historiographers are forced to admit: “The Soviet Union, while waging a defensive war against Germany, did not weaken its forces in the East, maintaining a group equal to the Kwantung Army. Thus, the Soviet Union managed to achieve the goal of defense in the East, avoiding war... The main factor was that the Soviet Union, possessing a vast territory and a large population, during the years of the pre-war five-year plans had become a powerful economic and military power.

As for the war plan against the USSR, it had the encrypted name “Kantogun tokushu enshu”, abbreviated as “Kantokuen” (“Special maneuvers of the Kwantung Army”). And all attempts to present it as “defensive” do not stand up to criticism and are refuted by the same pro-government historians of the Land of the Rising Sun. Thus, the authors of the “Official History of the War in Greater East Asia” (Ministry of Defense Publishing House “Asagumo”) admit: “The basis of relations between Japan and Germany was a common goal - to crush the Soviet Union... The Ministry of War believed that Japan should contribute to the war successes of the German army... Loyalty to the Tripartite Pact was understood as the desire not to yield to England and the United States, to curb their forces in East Asia, to pin down Soviet troops in the Far East and, taking advantage of the opportunity, to defeat it.”

Another documentary confirmation of this: the report of the German Ambassador to Japan Eugen Ott to his boss, Foreign Minister von Ribbentrop: “I have the pleasure of declaring that Japan is preparing for all kinds of contingencies in relation to the USSR in order to join forces with Germany... I I think that there is hardly any need to add that the Japanese government always has in mind the expansion of military preparations, along with other measures, to achieve this goal, as well as in order to tie up the forces of Soviet Russia in the Far East, which it could use in war with Germany..."

The task of pinning down Soviet troops was carried out by Japan throughout the Great Patriotic War. And this was highly appreciated by the German leadership: “Russia must keep troops in Eastern Siberia in anticipation of a Russian-Japanese clash,” Ribbentrop instructed the Japanese government in a telegram dated May 15, 1942. The instructions were followed strictly.

Along the meridian of Omsk

Back on January 18, 1942, anticipating a joint victory, the German, Italian and Japanese imperialists “divided” the territory of the Soviet Union among themselves. The preamble to the top secret agreement stated bluntly: “In the spirit of the Tripartite Pact of September 27, 1940, and in connection with the agreement of December 11, 1941, the armed forces of Germany and Italy, as well as the army and navy of Japan, enter into a military agreement to ensure cooperation in operations and crushing the military power of opponents as quickly as possible." The part of the Asian continent east of 70 degrees east longitude was declared a war zone for the Japanese armed forces. In other words, vast areas of Western Siberia, Transbaikalia and the Far East were subject to capture by the Japanese army.

The dividing line between the German and Japanese occupation zones was supposed to run along the meridian of Omsk. And the “Program of Total War of the First Period. Construction of East Asia” had already been developed, in which Japan identified the areas to be captured and the natural resources explored there:

Primorsky region:

a) Vladivostok, Marinsk, Nikolaev, Petropavlovsk and other areas;

b) strategic raw materials: Tetyukhe (iron ores), Okha and Ekhabi (oil), Sovetskaya Gavan, Artem, Tavrichanka, Voroshilov (coal).

Khabarovsk region:

a) Khabarovsk, Blagoveshchensk, Rukhlovo and other areas;

b) strategic raw materials: Umarita (molybdenum ores), Kivda, Raichikhinsk, Sakhalin (coal).

Chita region:

a) Chita, Karymskaya, Rukhlovo and other areas;

b) strategic raw materials: Khalekinsk (iron ores), Darasun (lead and zinc ores), Gutai (molybdenum ores), Bukachach, Ternovsky, Tarboga, Arbagar (coal).

Buryat-Mongolian region:

a) Ulan-Ude and other strategic points.

The “program” provided for “the resettlement of Japanese, Koreans and Manchus to the occupied areas, carrying out the forced eviction of local residents to the north.”

It is not surprising that with such plans the Japanese ignored - we choose the mildest definition - the Neutrality Pact.

Undeclared war on land and sea

During the war, the number of armed attacks on Soviet territory increased markedly. Units and formations of the Kwantung Army violated our land border 779 times, and Japanese Air Force aircraft violated our air border 433 times. Soviet territory was shelled, spies and armed gangs were dropped into it. And this was not an improvisation: the “neutrals” acted in strict accordance with the agreement between Japan, Germany and Italy of January 18, 1942. This was confirmed at the Tokyo Trial by the Japanese Ambassador to Germany Oshima. He also admitted that during his stay in Berlin he systematically discussed with Himmler measures to carry out subversive activities against the USSR and its leaders.

Japanese military intelligence actively obtained espionage information for the German army. And this was also confirmed at the Tokyo Trial, where Major General Matsumura (from October 1941 to August 1943, head of the Russian department of the intelligence department of the Japanese General Staff) admitted: “I systematically transmitted to Colonel Kretschmer (military attache of the German embassy in Tokyo. - Author. ) information about the forces of the Red Army, about the deployment of its units in the Far East, about the military potential of the USSR. For Kretschmer, I conveyed information about the withdrawal of Soviet divisions from the Far East to the west, about the movement of Red Army units within the country, about the deployment of the evacuated Soviet military industry. All this information was compiled on the basis of reports received by the Japanese General Staff from the Japanese military attaché in Moscow and from other sources."

One can only add to this exhaustive testimony that after the war, representatives of the German command admitted: data from Japan was widely used by them in military operations against the Soviet Union.

And finally, the Japanese openly torpedoed the Neutrality Pact by launching an undeclared war against the Soviet Union at sea. The illegal detention of Soviet merchant and fishing vessels, their sinking, capture and detention of crews continued until the end of the war. According to official data presented by the Soviet side to the Tokyo Tribunal, from June 1941 to 1945, the Japanese navy detained 178 and sank 18 Soviet merchant ships. Japanese submarines torpedoed and sunk such large Soviet ships as Angarstroy, Kola, Ilmen, Perekop, and Maikop. Unable to refute the fact of the death of these ships, some Japanese authors today make absurd statements that the ships were allegedly sunk by... planes and submarines of the USSR allied US Navy (?!).

Conclusion

Announcing the denunciation of the Neutrality Pact on April 5, 1945, the Soviet government had sufficient grounds to declare: “... Since that time, the situation has changed radically. Germany attacked the USSR, and Japan, an ally of Germany, is helping the latter in its war against the USSR. In addition, Japan is at war with the USA and England, which are allies of the Soviet Union. In this situation, the neutrality pact between Japan and the USSR has lost its meaning, and the extension of this Pact has become impossible..."

It only remains to add that the vast majority of the above documents were published in Japan back in the 1960s. Alas, not all of them were made public in our country. This publication in Rodina, I hope, will give impetus to historians, politicians, and all Russians to take a deeper interest in not so distant history, which today is becoming the object of a fierce struggle for the minds and hearts of people.

"Rodina" cordially congratulates Anatoly Arkadyevich Koshkin, our regular author, on his 70th birthday and looks forward to new bright articles!

At the request of the PRC, Japan is also participating in the elimination of Japanese chemical weapons remaining on Chinese territory. However, since “detonation technology, which does not imply high rates,” is used to destroy deadly toxic substances, the elimination, according to Antonyuk, “could drag on for many decades.” If the Japanese side claims that more than 700 thousand chemical shells are subject to disposal, then, according to Chinese data, there are over two million of them.

There is information that during the post-war period, about 2 thousand Chinese died from Japanese chemical weapons. For example, there is a known case in 2003 when construction workers from the Chinese city of Qiqihar, Heilongjiang Province, discovered five metal barrels with chemical weapons in the ground and, when trying to open them, were severely poisoned, as a result of which 36 people were hospitalized for a long time.

In the reference literature we find information that in 1933 Japan secretly purchased equipment for the production of mustard gas from Germany (this became possible after the Nazis came to power) and began producing it in Hiroshima Prefecture. Subsequently, military chemical plants appeared in other cities of Japan, and then in the occupied territory of China. The activities of military chemical laboratories were carried out in close contact with the institute for the development of bacteriological weapons - “detachment No. 731”, which was called “the devil’s kitchen”. Military research institutes of prohibited bacteriological and chemical weapons were created by order of the Commander-in-Chief of the Japanese Armed Forces, Emperor Hirohito, and were part of the Main Directorate of Armaments of the Japanese Army, subordinate directly to the Minister of War. The most famous chemical weapons research institute was “detachment No. 516”.

A Shimadzu device was installed in a large chamber to determine the gas concentration in the air. With its help, the relationship between the gas concentration and the time of death of the experimental subject was determined. For the same purpose, animals were placed in a small chamber with people. According to a former employee of Detachment No. 516, experiments showed that “the endurance of a person is approximately equal to the endurance of a pigeon: in conditions in which the pigeon died, the experimental person also died.”

One prisoner was used for each experiment, and on average 4-5 people were sent to the “gas chamber” per day. Usually the experiments lasted the whole day, from morning to evening, and in total more than 50 of them were carried out in “detachment No. 731.” “Experiments with poisonous gases were carried out in “detachment No. 731” at the level of the latest achievements of science,” testified a former employee of the detachment from among senior officers. “It took only 5-7 minutes to kill an experimental subject in a gas chamber.”

In many large cities of China, the Japanese army built military chemical plants and warehouses for storing chemical agents. One of the large factories was located in Qiqihar; it specialized in equipping aerial bombs, artillery shells and mines with mustard gas. The central warehouse of the Kwantung Army with chemical shells was located in the city of Changchun, and its branches were in Harbin, Jilin and other cities. In addition, numerous warehouses with chemical agents were located in the areas of Hulin, Mudanjiang and others. Formations and units of the Kwantung Army had battalions and separate companies for infesting the area, and chemical detachments had mortar batteries that could be used to use toxic substances.

Here is evidence from researchers of Japanese “chemical warfare”: “During the “Battle of Wuhan” (Wuhan city in Hubei province) from August 20 to November 12, 1938, the 2nd and 11th Japanese armies used chemical weapons at least 375 times (consumed 48 thousand chemical shells). More than 9,000 chemical mortars and 43,000 chemical agent cylinders were used in the chemical attacks.

On October 1, 1938, during the Battle of Dingxiang (Shanxi Province), the Japanese fired 2,500 chemical shells into an area of 2,700 square meters.

In an effort to convince Russian President V. Putin and the entire Russian people of the fabulous prospects for our country in the event of the surrender of the South Kuril Islands to Japan, Japanese Prime Minister S. Abe does not spare colors and feigned enthusiasm.

Let us recall his speech at the Eastern Economic Forum in September of this year:

“This year, on May 25, at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, I attracted the attention of the audience with the words: “Let's dream.” I then encouraged the audience to imagine with hope what will happen in our entire region when permanent stability is restored between Japan and Russia...

The Arctic Ocean, the Bering Sea, the North Pacific Ocean, the Sea of Japan will then be able to become the main maritime road of peace and prosperity, and the islands, which were once the cause of confrontation, will turn into a symbol of Japanese-Russian cooperation and will open up favorable opportunities as a logistics hub and stronghold . The Sea of Japan will also change, becoming a logistics highway.

And after this, perhaps, there will be a vast macro-region controlled by free, fair rules in China, the Republic of Korea, Mongolia - to the countries of the Indo-Pacific region. And this region will be filled with peace, prosperity and dynamism...” And so on and so forth.

And this is said by the head of state, who announced to our country that he has no intention of lifting illegal economic sanctions designed to further complicate the life of the people of Russia and prevent their development. The head of state, which, as the closest military ally of the United States, considers Russia an enemy that must be resisted in every possible way. Hearing such hypocritical speeches, you really feel embarrassed for Abe-san, and for all the Japanese for their outright insincerity and attempt to achieve the desired goal with flattery and promises - to tear away the Far Eastern lands that legally belong to our country.

The Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan to Ukraine Shigeki Sumi, who headed the diplomatic mission of the Land of the Rising Sun exactly after the “revolution of dignity” in 2014, spoke about the true attitude towards our country the other day. In an interview (Ukrinform, Ukraine), he first said that, in response to the “annexation” of Crimea by Russia and the conflict in Donbass, “Japan introduced sanctions against the Russian Federation. “I want to emphasize that at that time only Japan acted so decisively in Asia... And Tokyo also began assistance to Ukraine totaling 1.86 billion US dollars.” The ambassador does not specify what this Japanese money was used for, although it is quite possible that it was used to wage war against the people of Donbass.

Insisting, contrary to facts and logic, on the allegedly “forcible” annexation of Crimea to Russia, the plenipotentiary representative of Japan reports: “First, the Japanese position is that it does not recognize and will not recognize in the future the “annexation” of Crimea, which declared Russia. Therefore, Japan will continue anti-Russian sanctions as long as Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea continues.”

An important confession. Considering that Crimea has “returned to its native harbor” forever, the ambassador reports that his government, that is, the Abe cabinet, is by no means going to reconsider the decision on sanctions against Russia. How can one not recall the ironic remark of Russian President V. Putin that Tokyo introduced sanctions, apparently, to “strengthen trust between Japan and Russia.”

But then the ambassador comes to his senses, apparently remembering his boss’s flirtation with Moscow in the hope of getting the Kuril Islands. A clumsy excuse follows: “Russia’s various actions against Ukraine, the issue of Crimea and the issue of Donbass must be separated from negotiations on the return of the Northern Territories. This is Japan's position. Friendly relations with Russia are needed precisely to resolve the issue of the Northern Territories, because Japan has been making efforts to achieve this since the end of World War II..."

Thank you, Mr. Ambassador, for recognizing that Tokyo needs “friendship with Russia” precisely to bargain for the Kuril Islands. I hope that the Russian authorities will pay attention to this significant and very frank admission.

“Secondly, the Japanese position regarding Donbass is that it is occupied by so-called armed groups. Japan does not recognize this long occupation, and accordingly does not recognize the so-called “elections” that took place there. This is Japan’s position, and we publicly declare this,” says the ambassador.

During the interview, it also became clear that at the Russian-Japanese summit talks, Tokyo is, in fact, trying to blackmail Moscow, threatening to continue sanctions: “Despite friendly relations, if a friend does something bad, then we say that it is wrong. And if he does not give up his actions, then, of course, we do something to make him come to his senses. Of course, Japan is not imposing sanctions against Russia for the sake of sanctions. On the contrary, if Russia returns Crimea to Ukraine and implements the Minsk agreements to resolve the issue in Donbass, and decides everything positively, then the sanctions will end. We clearly explain this to Russia.”

And not a word about the responsibility of Kyiv and its Western patrons, including Japan, for unleashing a fratricidal war in Ukraine.

Some in Russia emphasize that the sanctions announced by Japan to our country are supposedly “symbolic in nature” and do not have a serious impact on trade and economic relations between the two countries. This is only partly true if we recall, for example, the refusal of Japanese companies to purchase Russian aluminum for fear of discontent with the United States. However, much more sensitive for Moscow is the political position of “Shinzo’s friend”, who in all respects agrees with the decisions of the G7 on policy towards Russia. And at the same time, he paints rosy prospects for the future of Japanese-Russian prosperity, promising all sorts of benefits after the surrender of the Kuril Islands.

Seeing such, frankly, double-dealing policies, one again recalls the “exchange of pleasantries” between Joseph Stalin and Japanese Foreign Minister Yosuke Matsuoka in April 1941 during negotiations on concluding a bilateral non-aggression pact.

From the transcript of the negotiations: “...Matsuoka states that he had instructions that spoke about the sale of Northern Sakhalin, but since the USSR does not agree, nothing can be done.

Comrade Stalin comes to the map and, pointing to its outlets into the ocean, says: Japan holds in its hands all the outlets of Soviet Primorye to the ocean - the Kuril Strait near the Southern Cape of Kamchatka, the La Perouse Strait south of Sakhalin, the Tsushima Strait near Korea. Now you want to take Northern Sakhalin and completely seal off the Soviet Union. What are you talking about, says Comrade. Stalin, smiling, want to strangle us? What kind of friendship is this?

Matsuoka says this would be necessary to create a new order in Asia. In addition, Matsuoka says, Japan does not object to the USSR reaching the warm sea through India. In India, Matsuoka adds, there are Indians whom Japan can guide so that they do not interfere with this. In conclusion, Matsuoka says, pointing to the USSR on the map, that he does not understand why the USSR, which has a huge territory, does not want to cede a small territory in such a cold place.

Comrade Stalin asks: why do you need the cold regions of Sakhalin?

Matsuoka replies that this will create peace in the area, and in addition, Japan agrees to the USSR access to the warm sea.

Comrade Stalin replies that this gives peace to Japan, and the USSR will have to fight the war here (points to India). This won't do.

Further, Matsuoka, pointing to the area of the southern seas and Indonesia, says that if the USSR needs anything in this area, then Japan can deliver rubber and other products to the USSR. Matsuoka says that Japan wants to help the USSR, not interfere.
Comrade Stalin replies that taking Northern Sakhalin means preventing the Soviet Union from living.”

To paraphrase the leader’s statement, it is high time to say directly to Abe-san: “To take the Kuril Islands means to interfere with Russia’s life.”

Anatoly Koshkin, REGNUM news agency.

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