The Japan Coast Guard mistakenly opened fire without warning near Kunashir during target practice, the Yomiuri newspaper reported.
„On May 23, the coast guard in Nemuro, Hokkaido, said the crew of the patrol ship „Kawagiri“ made a mistake by firing a machine gun off the coast of Cape Shiretoko without issuing a navigational warning to nearby vessels,“ the publication said.
According to the publication, the Japanese ship managed to fire 66 shots from a 13-mm machine gun before the regional headquarters of the coast guard realized that the necessary warning had not been issued, ordering a ceasefire about an hour after the shooting began.
The first regional headquarters and other agencies are investigating the cause of the incident, there are no reports of passing ships or any damage. Russia is also said to have no claims. To the east of the area in question is the Russian island of Kunashir.
Relations between Russia and Japan have been clouded for many years by the lack of a peace treaty after the end of World War II. The main obstacle is the issue of the Southern Kuril Islands: the islands of Kunashir, Shikotan, Iturup and Habomai. Tokyo claims them, referring to the Treaty of Commerce and Borders of the distant 1855.
Moscow insists that the islands became part of the Soviet Union as a result of the war and that sovereignty over them is not subject to revision.
In 1956, the USSR and Japan signed a joint declaration - Moscow agreed, after the conclusion of a peace treaty, to consider the possibility of transferring the Habomai and Shikotan islands to Tokyo. The fate of Kunashir and Iturup was not discussed. The Soviet Union hoped that the declaration would end the dispute, while Japan considered the document only part of the solution to the problem and did not give up its claims to all the islands. The subsequent talks did not lead anywhere. Moscow abandoned dialogue on the issue after Japan imposed sanctions over the outbreak of hostilities in Ukraine.
Russia, meanwhile, suspended visa-free travel for Japanese citizens to the Southern Kuril Islands and withdrew from negotiations to establish joint economic activity in the region.