| Yesterday, the Japanese Cabinet of Ministers approved 58-year-old Yasuo Saito as its new ambassador to Russia. He will replace 65-year-old Issei Nomura, who was appointed chief administrator - grand master at the court of Crown Prince Naruhito.
A career diplomat, Saito-san is an expert on the former Soviet Union, Western Europe and the Middle East. He joined the Japanese Foreign Ministry in 1971 after graduating from the University of Tokyo. Since 2003, Saito has been the Japanese Ambassador to Saudi Arabia. His track record also includes the posts of Minister-Counselor in France, head of the Department of Europe and Oceania of the Japanese Foreign Ministry, which also deals with Russia.
As Viktor Pavlyatenko, director of the Center for Japanese Studies at the Institute of Far Eastern Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, noted to Vremya Novostei, from the current rotation of ambassadors “one can hardly expect any immediate results that differ from the general trend of bilateral relations.” According to the scientist, “today, Russian-Japanese relations are increasingly beginning to be regulated by the general geopolitical situation,” including the situation around the St. Petersburg G8 summit and territorial problems in the Asia-Pacific region.
Yesterday, Junichiro Koizumi, who is leaving the post of Prime Minister in September, promised at a meeting with representatives of the Society for the Return of the “Northern Territories” (as the Southern Kuril Islands are called in Japan - Ed. ) to discuss the Russian-Japanese territorial problem with Russian President Vladimir Putin at a bilateral meeting in July in within the framework of the G8 summit. The prime minister emphasized that “this is a problem for all of Japan, without which relations with Russia will not develop.” Katerina LABETSKAYA
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