Japan lodges protest with Russia over suspension of tax treaties

unfriendly countries" - those that have imposed sanctions 

That make sense, friends won't imposed sanctions, Japan did right. Also did some embargo, so this is what happen. Japan can protest and pledge and then what?

Just say NO to Stoli'; THAT will make a BIG dent in their cash intake (Russia).

They'll go broke in NO time.

What did Japan expect? Russia to just rollover. Of course not. Japan needs to grow a pair. When you play tough, you get hurt.

To hell with Russia as long as Putin is in charge.

"We are against the war in Ukraine, and we are absolutely sickened by the nuclear testing done on the atomic bombing anniversary, but come on! We can still do business, right??"

japanese action.

sanctions.

russian reaction.

extra taxes.

now what?

guy on photos plays xuila

Russia GOOD MOVE.

You used national security as justification, when you want to do something that is disadvantage to them/dis regard treaties, well, you decided to get involve with the game, its a game other countries can play too.

"It is regrettable that Russia decided to unilaterally suspend certain provisions of the Japan-Russia tax treaty, which is an unjustified measure

Funny

Sanctions only hurt the Japanese people. End them now, and return to regular business with Russia. Let the US fight their proxy war, but the people of Japan will all appreciate cheaper fuel prices and groceries.

Yes Japan...your status as a vassal state has consequences.

What did Japan think was going to happen?

The sheer incompetence and myopic view of our world leaders is astonishing!

Have to admit Japan is being unrealistic. You sanction Russia, Russian companies and people for its illegal invasion of Ukraine, for the death and destruction it subject Ukraine to daily, and your right to sanction them for it. Expecting them to sit like an animal in a spotlight so the hunter can shoot it is unrealistic.

Obviously Russia would love Japan's support or indifference to its crimes in Ukraine, but when sanctioned Russia will take umbrage and react to your sanctions.

You need to have the stones to accept your in the right and Russia wont stand still for your actions against its ambitions.

Making objections makes Japan look both naive, weak and less than committed to its course of action in supporting Ukraine's right to sovereignty over itself.

Come on Japan, your better than that.

So, Japan deciding to 'unilaterally suspend' some Japanese-Russian trade agreements (and break several global trade agreements specifically where they applied to Russia) somehow wasn't detrimental to Japanese citizens and businesses, only the direct response was.

I wonder, does Hirokazu Matsuno also believe that swimming in a river when the forecast is that a typhoon is about to hit isn't dangerous, only the sudden surge in flow when the typhoon hits is?

The sheer incompetence and myopic view of our world leaders is astonishing!

Yes, we understand you think pandering to Russia and Putin is the way forward. Fortunately Japan has more of a backbone than that.

Competitive advantage to Chinese companies operating in Russia.

This article doesn't mention it but Japanese companies have largely not pulled out of Russia.

In fish markets around Tokyo you can see boxes of snow crab and other goodies lying about clearly marked "produce of Russia" in very big font. Indeed, last year the volume of seafood imported was a record amount!

Lumber imports have soared.

And the elephant in the room is the Sakhalin 2 gas project, with a 10%+ stake.

This reciprocal move is a spectacular own goal.

Competitive advantage to Chinese companies operating in Russia.

Where they can get a whole lot of worthless rubles. Lucky China.

Allow me to rephrase the last sentence: this is a reciprocal move to the spectacular own goal of sanctions and stripping Russia of favored-nation-trading-status.

According to trade statistics from the Japanese Finance Ministry, Japan's imports of fishery products from Russia in 2022 reached 155.2 billion yen ($1.1 billion), the highest level since 1992, the year after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Crab, sea urchins, shellfish, herring roe and squid amongst other products are leading the way.

Crab catches in Hokkaido have been on a downward trend, down more than 20% in just a few years.

Squid catches in Hokkaido tumbled by roughly 90% from about 120,000 tonnes in 2011 to 7,500 in 2021.

And fishing licenses have been suspended in the Kuril Islands.

It's against this backdrop of sanctions that the struggling Hokkaido fisheries industry is on track to smash records this year again with Russian imports propping up an industry that has issues.

I doubt the tax changes will impact this particular sector much, because it's driven by domestic demand for seafood.

The alternative would be skyrocketing seafood prices; how would your local sushi or chain conveyor belt sushi shop fare? or the seafood izakaya or those crab restaurants with the big robotic crab with moving legs on its sign, let alone the wholesalers and distributors big and small.

Strangerland

Aug. 9 11:25 pm JST

Competitive advantage to Chinese companies operating in Russia.

> Where they can get a whole lot of worthless rubles. Lucky China

Which chose you don't know much again.

China and Russia have a deal where China gets payed in Yuan and Russia get Rubles avoiding western currencies, exchange rates, etc...

Saves them each billions.

China and Russia have a deal where China gets payed in Yuan and Russia get Rubles avoiding western currencies, exchange rates, etc...

Sure. Sounds like a great deal, except then you realize your trading partners are Russia and China. Which is a lose-lose situation.

When you pander to dictators, you deserve to be stepped on.

It is sad and laughable that even though it has been proven time and time again that economic sanctions as a way to stop some country of doing something or to try to do a regime change never ever work at all (I mean, Cuba, Iran, North Korea...), people continue to support them, even if they have bad consequences for the lives of every day people, and even themselves.

@Luis David Yanez,

You make an interesting point, one well worth thinking about. I sometimes wonder which would be more effective in solving disputes - dropping bombs or dropping money.

Luis David YanezToday 01:10 am JST

It is sad and laughable that even though it has been proven time and time again that economic sanctions as a way to stop some country of doing something or to try to do a regime change never ever work at all (I mean, Cuba, Iran, North Korea...), people continue to support them, even if they have bad consequences for the lives of every day people, and even themselves.

You have to admit that it has kept those countries irrelevant, though. Maybe achieving their objective through other means?