Russia has ratcheted up its retaliatory measures against Japan with the permanent banning of several high-level government officials and business leaders, including Foreign Minister Iwaya Takeshi, Japan’s current and previous ambassador to Ukraine, and the presidents of four Japanese corporations.
In a March 3 announcement, the Russian Foreign Ministry said, “As part of the response measures to the ongoing so-called sanctions actions of official Tokyo against our country in connection with the special military operation, a decision was made to permanently ban the following Japanese citizens from entering the Russian Federation.”
Russia persists in using the euphemism “special military operation” to refer to its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which began in late February 2022. The war in Ukraine is ongoing, and Kyiv finds itself at the center of a rapidly shifting geopolitical landscape.
In June 2022, speaking at the annual Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, then-Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio proclaimed Japan’s support for Ukraine and uttered a line that has echoed over the last three years as Asian countries watch the European conflict unfold with China looming: “I myself have a strong sense of urgency that Ukraine today may be East Asia tomorrow.”
Tokyo joined the United States and Europe in sanctioning Russia in 2022 and has continued to expand its sanctions, including asset freezes as well as bans on some Russian imports and certain Japanese exports to Russia. Russia’s increased cooperation with North Korea has only served to heighten Tokyo’s concerns over the past year.
New Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru reaffirmed Japan’s stance in regard to Ukraine at an online G-7 summit in mid-December. In January, Tokyo approved additional sanctions.
In return, Moscow has imposed counter-sanctions of its own, including entry bans on 460 Japanese individuals.
This week, Russia expanded those entry bans to include Foreign Minister Iwaya; Japan’s current and previous ambassadors to Ukraine, Nakagome Masashi and Matsuda Kuninori, respectively; Senior Vice President of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Hara Shohei; the head of the JICA office in Ukraine, Matsunga Hideki; and the presidents of four Japanese corporations: Ide Hiroshi (IHI Corporation), Minami Shinsuke (Isuzu Motors), Toya Shunsuke (Prodrone Co.) and Sankai Yoshiyuki (Cyberdyne).
During a March 4 press conference, Iwaya responded to a question about the entry ban, noting that Japan’s sanctions on Russia – to which the entry ban is framed as a response – “are due to Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. Therefore, it is completely unacceptable to shift the responsibility to Japan, and I intend to firmly express my regret in the near future.”
Iwaya stressed that relations with Russia are difficult at present, and that the many issues between them require communication to bridge.
The United States, then under the Biden administration, spearheaded the effort to sanction Russia after its invasion of Ukraine. But the new Trump administration has done an dramatic about-face, pursuing talks with Russia on a peace deal while blaming Ukraine (and especially its president) for the continuing war. The Trump administration is reportedly considering lifting some U.S. sanctions on Russia amid the ongoing diplomacy. It’s not clear whether U.S. partners, like Japan or European countries, would follow suit.