Japan Considers New Sanctions on Russia Amid Public Preference for Dialogue

TOKYO, September 2. /TASS/. The Japanese authorities are looking into the possibility of imposing another package of sanctions on Russia, the country’s Yomiuri newspaper reported citing government sources.

The report says that European countries have been toughening their anti-Russian sanctions as of lately, and it is possible that Japan will join them. The restrictive measures may target vessels of the so-called shadow fleet, the newspaper claims. Besides, the government is also considering the possibility of expanding the list of export restrictions and toughening export control.

Simultaneously, the sanctions were also tied to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s recent visit to Iturup in the Kuril Archipelago, which provoked a sharp response from Tokyo. Russian Ambassador to Tokyo Nikolay Nozdrev described Japan’s reaction as an unfounded demarche, and told Japan’s top diplomat that the Southern Kurils remain an unalienable part of Russia.

Japan’s latest round of anti-Russian sanctions was imposed on September 12, 2025, under the previous government of Shigeru Ishiba. So far, the incumbent Cabinet led by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has refrained from such measures.

At the same time, two separate opinion polls, conducted by major Japanese media outlets in late August and September, showed that the majority of Japanese people want dialogue with Russia, and not sanctions. A survey by the country’s conservative newspaper Sankei and Fuji TV , and a survey by the Nikkei newspaper, showed that more than half of respondents favor a more flexible course towards Russia, and would prefer calls for dialogue over sanctions in the context of the situation around the Southern Kuril Islands.

Since spring 2022, the Japanese government has introduced several rounds of sanctions against Russia, prompting Moscow to halt peace treaty consultations with Tokyo. Russia also withdrew from talks on joint economic activities in the Southern Kuril Islands, and trips by former Japanese residents to the area have been suspended.

According to Nozdrev, Tokyo has "effectively decided to completely dismantle relations with one of its main neighbors," concluding that the costs of this step would be lower than the perceived benefits of "opportunistically joining the anti-Russian campaign" initiated by the West.

Later, during a meeting between Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko and Japanese Ambassador to Moscow Akira Muto, the Russian side emphasized that Tokyo’s deliberate actions had driven bilateral relations to their lowest-ever point in history.