The Japanese Executive has demanded this Tuesday from Russia the "immediate release" and the authorization without delays of a consular visit for the journalist of the newspaper 'Hokkaido Shimbun', arrested by Russian security forces under accusations of espionage.
To convey this message, the Director General for Europe of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, Hitoshi Nakamura, has traveled to Moscow, where he has met in person with the Director General of the Third Department for Asia of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Liudmila Vorobiova. According to the Japanese public broadcaster NHK, during the meeting Nakamura defended Tokyo's official position and pressed for quick consular access to the reporter, identified as Imai Yuki, detained by the Federal Security Service (FSB) in the Sakhalin region and subsequently transferred to the Moscow Lefortovo prison.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan has confirmed the meeting through a statement, in which it emphasizes that, despite the "difficult current state of relations between Japan and Russia," both senior officials agreed to keep the channels of bilateral dialogue open to address this and other issues.
The Russian side, for its part, has limited itself to indicating that in the conversation the importance of "taking into account Russia's concerns in the field of national security" was emphasized, without directly referring to the arrest of the journalist. Furthermore, the note from the Russian Foreign Ministry states that, to move towards normalizing ties between the two countries, it is essential that Tokyo "renounces anti-Russian activities."
The spokesperson for the Japanese Government, Minoru Kihara, has reiterated this Wednesday before the media Tokyo's support for the detained informant. "We have made a request based on the position of the Japanese Government to demand that a consular meeting be held as soon as possible and his immediate release. We will continue to work with all our strength from the perspective of protecting Japanese citizens," he has stated in remarks reported by the same broadcaster.
Territorial tensions and rejection of espionage accusations
Coinciding with his visit to Moscow, the Japanese representative also presented a formal complaint regarding the recent visit of a Chinese business delegation to the island of Etorofu, part of the so-called Northern Territories (referred to as the Kuril Islands by Russia). This group of islands is the subject of a prolonged territorial dispute between Tokyo and Moscow since the end of World War II, a disagreement that has prevented the signing of a peace treaty and whose negotiations were suspended in 2022 following the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The situation of the journalist from 'Hokkaido Shimbun' has further increased the tension in already very deteriorated relations, especially after the recent visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to the disputed islands.
Last week, Japan's Prime Minister, Sanae Takaichi, categorically rejected that the reporter was obtaining sensitive information about Russian defensive capabilities on behalf of Japanese intelligence services, as claimed by the FSB. "There is no truth in the claim of espionage activities in Russia," the leader stated.