This Open Access book carefully examines the legal and historical bases of the territory of Japan as a modern State from the Meiji period to 2002. A new preface summarizes key developments in the situation up through 2022.

Japan’s current territory is stipulated by the Potsdam Declaration (1945) and the Treaty of Peace with Japan (1951); it includes the Northern Territories, the Senkaku Islands, and Takeshima.  Japan has demanded the return of the Northern Territories, comprising the islands of Etorofu, Kunashiri, Shikotan and Habomai, which are occupied by Russia. China has...