Inexperienced islands

On the alley from the sanctuary of Meiji, where the spirit of Emperor Meiji, who in the XIXV, is revered. Made Japan "West", happy fathers of families in office costumes are going on. Behind them, wives and children in expensive festive kimono hobble at uncomfortable Geta. November 15-Si-San-Day, when those who are three, five and seven years are brought to Shinto temples for blessing. On the bridge at the Kharazuku station, colorful families mix with a crowd of girls in multi -colored wigs and in boots on a huge platform.

Japan that Putin came to is similar to the bridge by Harazuka on the day of Si-San: it lives in a few times at once. Therefore, there is no contradiction in the fact that Toyota is building a plant in Russia-a country with which the war will not end in any way.

The Japanese business in Russia does not affect the Kuril Islands in any way. Big politics and national complexes - separately, money - separately. This, of course, does not contribute to the solidity of the Japanese negotiating position - they have nothing to threaten Russia. This can laugh at our manic persistence of neighbors who, a well -known business, will not receive anything from us. But the Japanese are not laughing: Putin arrived, which means that it is necessary to demand to return the “northern territories” - “I can’t find words to my defense, but you could not return our four islands to us.” This is the matter of their national honor - such a concept, oddly enough, has been preserved in the country where the boundaries of all eras and styles are erased.

“I am the gosik of Rorita,” he seems proudly to Hibik. This means Gothic Lolita. Hibika with overlaid nails is pulled by Japanese schoolgirls, long golfs - but she is not a schoolgirl, but a university student, studies for a designer, and she does not have ordinary clothes at all. Every day she dresses and paints for at least an hour, and then goes to the subway to the university. She knows about the novel "Lolita", but she did not read it. But regularly reads a Japanese magazine with a magnificent English name Gothic & Lolitabible.

She knows about Russia from those shows on TV, where they show how Japanese celebrities go to different countries. In some programs, it is clear that Russia is very rich, in others - very poor. To figure it out, you need to go yourself. And it’s not at all scary: “I myself from the village, when I moved to Tokyo, was also afraid, but it turned out in vain.”

Near the edge of the sidewalk, Kaya sat with Malvina's hair, in a lush red dress with frills and with a layer white on her face. Here she is already 6 years on Sundays Kaya, and on weekdays - an official worker in ordinary clothes and with a regular name. She also has her own opinion about Russia: this is a country where people have beautiful white skin. And a lot of good athletes. Kaya sighs.

Expelled from the north

They rarely recall Russia in Tokyo - the northerners with Hokkaido will remind. Soon the visit of the Russian president, which means it is time for them to protest. At one of the intersections of the Ginza trading region, someone shouts slogans into the megaphone, the word “Putin” is heard. Nearby are two in uniform caps with a visor, as in the photo of Japanese soldiers from the Second World War.

Siger Kimur will not go to protest, but he agrees to speak on a sensitive topic. Sigeru-san is a chairman of the Japanese society of former residents of Sakhalin, who is in Japanese called Karafuto.

Kimura grew up in the current Russian city of Kholmsk. Then, he says, there were two or three families of Russians: they traded in European clothes and bread. After landing the Red Army on Sakhalin, everyone grabbed everything and left. “I think the same thing happened to the Russians in 1905,” Kimur adds, restoring polite balance. In Japan, they know the film well about how 9 Japanese telephones Kholmsk, learning about the landing of Russians, drank poison right on the telephone station. Sakhalin belongs to Russia, he does not dispute. Of course, Russia did not sign with everyone a peace treaty in San Francisco in 1956, and therefore the legally belonging to Sakhalin was not framed by Russia. But Japan lost to Sakhalin, and the fact that the consulate was opened there means that it recognizes the island of Russians. Another thing is the name of the territories. These four islands never belonged to Russia in history.

Kimura allows himself to be not very polite. He says, “it is bad that Koizumi so flexing with Putin - he postponed his visit three times, and Koizumi begged him all: please come. If I hadn’t begged, I would have arrived all. After all, the same Sakhalin economically depends on Japan, we buy all this Sakhalin gas. It would be necessary to leave Russia alone, the very itself. ” Here Kimura, as expected, asks for forgiveness for sharpness. When he was the last time in Kholmsk with a mission to identify the remains of Japanese soldiers, the inhabitants of the city helped a lot, and then several dozen people came to spend them on the last train, despite the late hour and bad weather.

Professor Noboo Sitomai from the University of Tokyo, Hose-Member of the Russian-Japanese Council of the sages, which Putin invented during a visit to Japan in 2001. The professor says that the Council is discussing different options for a compromise, but he does not have the right to disclose-which. But one thing is for sure: the time when the islands could be changed to investments is missed. “Now Japan has less profitable negotiation positions,” Sensei will be soaked. “It was necessary to agree before.” Previously, when the USSR collapsed, nothing could be interrogated from Moscow.

On the other hand, now it’s a convenient moment for a compromise political decision, because Koizumi is “an unusually strong prime minister”. Usually in Japan, bureaucracy is stronger than politicians, and a foreign policy from generation to generation determined a very conservative Foreign Ministry, where the same people worked under any government. But in the case of Koizumi, this is not so: if he makes a fundamental political decision, this decision will make both bureaucracy and public opinion. As for public opinion, 30% requires to return all four islands and about the same amount of two. A third about the islands does not think anything at all.

The voices of the people

In the Ginza trading area, the managers of the great Japanese campaigns - Toyota, Mitsubishi or Sonya - scream in smoky cheap Yakitories. The ties are dissolved, the white collars are unbuttoned. The conversation is louder: the clerks diligently pour sake to each other - to catch themselves - a indiscriminate mistake. Finally, a place was released for me - one, as in Moscow on Friday. While Jakitori is carried, a table neighbor fills my glass. The complexion and proteins of his eyes are equally red - whether from caustic smoke, or from rice wine. His name is Nakamura, he is an employee of the real estate company, from Okinawa, from the news knows that Putin is coming. “I saw Putin on Okinawa,” says Nakamura, “when there was a“ eight ”summit. It seems to me that this is the right person to represent Russia in the world. ” It's just politeness, of course. Bush does not like Nakamura, and honestly tells me about it - I am not an American. What does Nakamura know about Russia? He wrinkles his forehead strongly and puffs the red cheeks. While he thinks, over his head along the flyover he manages to rummaging the whole composition - on a serious question to answer impolite, without thinking.

“After the Cold War has ended, you have freedom, and you adopted the capitalist economy and the features of the American lifestyle. This is good for Russia, now it has lighter prospects. ” What about the northern territories? Nakamura is even more pouting cheeks, the train rumbles overhead again for a long time. “For us, the northern islands are so far on Okinawa,” Nakamura tries to reduce disagreements with the interlocutor. “There is more worried about China and the American base. But what's wrong with returning these islands? I assure you, the Japanese will appreciate this very highly. ” A commoner without a tie on the contrary nods, then breaks large baked garlic into slices and treats us, swarming sweet, powdery stations in Miso.

But these, with Okinawa, are too fixed on their problems. In the rest of Japan, especially representatives of the older generation, they consider the northern territories to very close ones.

Matsui for forty years has been holding a store of all sorts of things in a sleepy area on the sleepy area, where Tokyo -Duhthazh, who has been inherited from his father. To fight the supermarkets and the Japanese loved by the Japanese, round -the -clock hozed - Conveniencestore, - Matsui and his wife work every day from ten in the morning to half a night without days off and vacation. They have more types of beer and sake - but not like in the “Convin”, only the most promoted, and they must communicate with the client.

We are sitting in a store pantry, Mrs. Matsui shakes powder green tea in a kettle. Her husband with all politeness answers the question of our country. “You are very pretty to me, and maybe everything I say is not important, but when I was little, Japan and Russia fought, and I think about Russia is not too good,” Matsui smiles kindly. “But America fought with Japan much longer?” - “I also think about America, too, not very good. But the Americans released the prisoners, returned Okinawa and supported Japan with money. And the Russians kept the Japanese for a very long time in captivity at work, and very many died there. And before that, Russia violated the non -aggression agreement and still does not return the islands to us. ”

The bell rings, Matsui bows and disappears in the store. His voice is heard: "You have reached us by visiting us in inclement weather." “I have no forgiveness,“ Matsui reappears in the pantry. “I don’t want to say that the war and the cold climate are all that I think about Russia.” When my wife and I do not work, it happens in the morning on Sundays - we go to museums. Recently, there was a large exhibition from Renigrad - all the treasures of Catilina. These were wonderful things, we would like to visit this city. ” Recently, Matsui saw a documentary on TV, there were an interview with some residents of Hokkaido, who used to live in the northern islands, they said they really wanted to return. “Russia spends a lot of money on these islands, this is a great burden for it. If Russia returns these islands, it will be a great gesture from the Russian people, and Japan can be grateful. ” As for the current residents of four islands, Matsui is sure: the Japanese could build them at home anywhere and allocate a lot of money to relocate them, or maybe some of them would like to accept Japanese citizenship. In general, the Japanese Foreign Ministry invariably offers the same.

Rich and offended

Akira Chiba is one of the bureaucrats diplomats, which Sensei Sytomai mentioned-he works in the Foreign Assistance as a speaker. Sokurov’s film “The Sun” praises about how Emperor Hirochito abandoned his divine origin in 1945. “Neither the left nor the right, but this is close to my interpretation of events. My father said that the emperor was just that. ” In childhood, he spent two years in Moscow with a diplomatic father in childhood. There, the father negotiated the islands.

Now the new generation of diplomats will again ask the Russian leader when he gives his debt. “If Mr. Putin himself touches this issue, we will welcome it, and we will ask him anyway,” says Chiba. Local newspapers have already written that the Russian leader will again offer an unacceptable “joint development”, but this is not important. Whether compromise options are possible - to spare leaders, but the official position is as follows: the northern territories are four islands, and their Russia should be returned.

This will be an act of repentance. And the fact that Russia should repent in Japan everyone knows. Akira Chiba, like many ordinary Japanese, does not want to look at the problem in the context of a large war - a ground, there were times, the winners are not judged. “Have you seen a Japanese turning into a red light? We, the Japanese, are passionate legalists, we follow the rules everywhere, the diplomat says. “That is that the USSR violated the non -aggression agreement is terrible for the Japanese consciousness. And four islands were generally busy after we signed the surrender on September 2. Some of our scientists argue that from a legal point of view it was a new war. This is illegal, not by the rules, but to violate the rules - a real insult to the Japanese. ”

However, not everyone feels the insult. Japanese businessmen assure that the lack of a peace treaty with Russia does not bother them. Tokyo headquarters "Toyota" is located in the old quarter of Koruku. From the antiquity, only the Japanese Garden of Korukuen remained here, laid down at the first segunes, it is entirely visible from half of the windows of a boring glass prism. Over a complex form, the trees were bent, selected and cut so that yellow and red leaves and autumn flowers alternate.

Toyota manager for international affairs of Imai Tomomi is strict, like this landscape. He says clearly: he does not think that for their business in Russia, the policy is of great importance. The Russian market on a global scale is small, but it is growing rapidly: in 2002, 8000 cars were sold, in 2003-25,000, in the past-47,000. Now for Toyota this is the sixth market in Europe. “If we were afraid of political friction, we would not have any business at all in China or Korea - with them, they are not worse than an example.” Toyota did not come for a long time not because she did not want to, and then they forced her. This is always the case: the Japanese come very slowly, but if possible forever.

Fan and two sumoists

General Secretary of the Democratic Party of Japan Yukio Hatoyama-Inquired by Prime Minister Itiro Hatoyama, who signed the same Soviet-Japanese declaration in 1956, about which Putin recalled last year: to divide the disputed islands “Pererovna” and sign a peace treaty. In fact, Japan had to get Shikotan and Habomai - two of the smallest islands.

After the split of the ruling liberal party in 1993, Khatoyama Jr. turned out to be at the head of the opposition. In combination, he is the chairman of the Japan -Russia Society. “I read what my grandfather wrote about the return of two islands, and I agree: it is very important to admit the fact that citizens of Russia live in the disputed islands. When I was the last time there, I asked the Russian inhabitants what they think. They said that they want the situation to be resolved as soon as possible. Then the islands could develop normally, because so far no one wants to invest there. ”

But the grandson of Hatoyama demands to return all four islands, he believes that Japan should take realistic steps: it is necessary to make the experience of cohabitation and joint business on the islands, and then let the residents decide in which country they want to live.

But the main thing is to continue negotiations. The chairman of the Sakhalin Exiles, Siger Kamur, also said about the same thing: “Even if this does not lead to anything, the Japanese must continue to say that our islands. Because if shutting up, it means to admit that they are Russian. ”

Both are guided by the main Japanese virtue, expressed by the concept of “Gambar”: unlike the heroes of the West, Japanese heroes in life, books and cinema are not those who have achieved the goal, and those who “did everything possible for this”. Guided by Gambar, the Japanese will behave in relation to the northern territories. They will be arranged only by such an option from which it will be seen: they did everything, absolutely everything they could.

“I can’t choose words to express my regret,” Hatoyama folds his hands and bows - the conversation is over, the reception room is already heard the unusually loud conversation of the party comrades. Hatoyama holds out a long box for me, because soon ONEID is a winter season of gifts. Opening a gift in the presence of a donor is a big inconsistency. Only in the evening I get to the box - in it a fan with the inscription "Society of Japan -Russia" and the image of the two summers of the sumo struck in a battle.