Japan and Russia are only separated by 600 miles of ocean and share hundreds of miles of coastline that is adjacent to one another. While attempting to research the countries relationship throughout the centuries I couldn’t find much as most of the history between them was post WW2.
Are their any important history moments where the 2 countries went to war, made trade deals, or was it normal for Russian settlers to cross the ocean to settle in Japan (and vice versa). Did the 2 countries emperors and Czars keep tabs on one another’s countries? Thank you
State to state relations in the truest sense didn't start until Japan's opening in the mid-19th century.
However, unofficial interactions had been going on before then, and I am glad you ask, since I find this a most fascinating topic.
By eastward expansion, RUssia reached the Pacific as early as 1639. However, their first real approach to Japan was in the late 1690'es, when the Cossack Vladimir Atlasov conquered Kamchatka. Here he found a Japanese castaway by the name of Dembei. Dembei was brought to Moscow, where Peter the Great made him the founder of the first Japanese language school in Europe. THis school was maintained throughout the 18th century. This event largely whetted Russian interest in Japan.
Japan did not hear concretely about Russia until 1739. In this year, the Danish captain Martin Spangsberg mapped the northern sea route from Kamchatka to Japan, and made contact with Japanese fishermen near Sendai. THe visitors were identifed as Russians through the Dutch in Japan.
Towards the end of the 19th century, the Russian menace started to loom in Japanese minds. THey started to fear a takeover over the Kuril Islands and Hokkaido, and ultimately an imperialist threat to Japan. Around 1807, a minor conflict even played out, as Japanese outposts on Sakhalin were raided by the Russians, and a Russian explorer was captured and kept in Japanese custody. THe border remained undeclared however.
IN 1853, Japan was famously forcefully opened by the US. Russia followed soon after, and the 1855 Treaty of SHimoda established state-to-state relations. It was later amended in the 1875 Treaty of Skt. Petersburg. These two treaties established state to state relations, and also a border. IN this agreement, the island of Sakhalin was RUssian, while the Kuril Islands were Japanese. Notably, the Treaty of SHimoda had granted the Kuril Islands to Russia, apart from the southernmost two, while leaving the status of Sakhalin undetermined. This is key to understanding Russo-Japanese relations today.
Around 1900, clashing imperial ambitions brought the two countries on collission course. Japanese expansion in Korea, and Russian in Manchuria led to the Russo-Japanese War, with Japanese victory in 1905. Here, they seized the southern half of Sakhalin.
Japan and the Soviet Union had antagonistic relationships from the get go. WWII eventually resulted in Russia seizing southern Sakhalin and the Kurl Islands. TO this day, Japan considers the seizure of the southernmost Kuril Islands illegitimate, and they are the key flashpoint in the frigid relations between Russia and Japan today.
To sum up, Russia and Japan had no official contacts before 1855. Until this point, Russia desired to trade with Japan, while Japan saw Russian expansion in maritime Northeast Asia with great suspicion. After this, both became imperial powers with conflicting spheres of interest, eventually leading to their clash in 1905. Even today, their relationship is fairly frigid, and it cannot be said it has ever been warm.
I hope this helped answer your questions. If you want to read more, I suggest:
The Kurilian Knot by Hiroshi Kimura
Eastern Destinty: Russia in Asia and the North Pacific by Patrick March