The was a treaty normalizing relations between the

Empire of Japan The also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was a historical nation-state and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 until the enactment of the post-World War II Constitution of Japan, 1947 constitu ...

and the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

that was signed on 20 January 1925. Ratifications were exchanged in Beijing on February 26, 1925. The agreement was registered in ''League of Nations Treaty Series'' on May 20, 1925.

Background

Following the defeat of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

in the

Russo-Japanese War The Russo-Japanese War ( ja, 日露戦争, Nichiro sensō, Japanese-Russian War; russian: Ру́сско-япóнская войнá, Rússko-yapónskaya voyná) was fought between the Empire of Japan and the Russian Empire during 1904 and 1 ...

of 1904–1905, co-operative relations between Russia and Japan were gradually restored by four sets of treaties signed between 1907 and 1916. However, the collapse of the

Romanov dynasty The House of Romanov (also transcribed Romanoff; rus, Романовы, Románovy, rɐˈmanəvɨ) was the reigning imperial house of Russia from 1613 to 1917. They achieved prominence after the Tsarina, Anastasia Romanova, was married to ...

, followed by the

Bolshevik Revolution The October Revolution,. officially known as the Great October Socialist Revolution. in the Soviet Union, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution, was a revolution in Russia led by the Bolshevik Party of Vladimir Lenin that was a key moment ...

and the Japanese

Siberian Intervention The Siberian intervention or Siberian expedition of 1918–1922 was the dispatch of troops of the Entente powers to the Russian Maritime Provinces as part of a larger effort by the western powers, Japan, and China to support White Russian f ...

created a strong distrust between Japan and the newly founded Soviet Union.

Signing

The treaty was signed by Lev Mikhailovich Karakhan of the Soviet Union and

Kenkichi Yoshizawa was a Japanese diplomat in the Empire of Japan, serving as 46th Foreign Minister of Japan in 1932. He was the maternal grandfather of Sadako Ogata, the former United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees from 1991–2001. Biography Yoshizawa ...

of Japan on 20 January 1925.

Terms

Following a series of negotiations held in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

in 1924 and 1925, Japan agreed to extend

diplomatic recognition Diplomatic recognition in international law is a unilateral declarative political act of a state that acknowledges an act or status of another state or government in control of a state (may be also a recognized state). Recognition can be accor ...

to the Soviet Union and to withdraw its troops from the northern half of

Sakhalin Sakhalin ( rus, Сахали́н, r=Sakhalín, p=səxɐˈlʲin; ja, 樺太 ''Karafuto''; zh, c=, p=Kùyèdǎo, s=库页岛, t=庫頁島; Manchu: ᠰᠠᡥᠠᠯᡳᠶᠠᠨ, ''Sahaliyan''; Orok: Бугата на̄, ''Bugata nā''; Nivkh ...

island. In return, the Soviet Union agreed to honor the provisions of the

Treaty of Portsmouth A treaty is a formal, legally binding written agreement between actors in international law. It is usually made by and between sovereign states, but can include international organizations, individuals, business entities, and other legal pers ...

and to re-examine all other treaties between the former Russian Empire and Japan, including the Fishery Convention of 1907. The Soviet Union granted the Empire of Japan " most favoured nation" status. In Article VI, Japan received the right to establish concessions for mineral, timber, and other natural resources.

Aftermath

In January 1928,

Gotō Shinpei Count was a Medical Doctor with Doctor of Medicine, a Japanese politician and cabinet minister of the Taishō and early Shōwa period Empire of Japan. He served as the head of civilian affairs of Taiwan under Japanese rule, the first direc ...

visited the Soviet Union and negotiated for the continuation of Japanese fishing companies in Soviet waters and vice versa. Coal and oil companies, and the

Imperial Japanese Navy The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, when it was dissolved following Japan's surrend ...

, invested in northern

, creating the grounds for concessions. They exported coal and petroleum to Japan, and imported equipment to the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union would later provide the Empire of Japan with formal oil and coal concessions in Soviet Sakhalin that were expanded as late as 1939. and lasted until 1943. After the deportation of Koreans to Central Asia, some two thousand Soviet Koreans (or more) remained on northern Sakhalin for the expressed purpose of working on the Soviet-Japanese concessions (ie. joint-ventures), refuting the stated rationale for the deportation of Koreans ("to prevent the infiltration of Japanese espionage").

Notes

External links

Text of the convention
{{DEFAULTSORT:Soviet-Japanese Basic Convention Treaties of the Soviet Union Japan–Soviet Union relations 1925 in Japan 1925 in the Soviet Union Japan–Russia relations Treaties concluded in 1925 Treaties of the Empire of Japan Japan–Russia treaties Interwar-period treaties