Soviet-Japanese Relations | Juliana Kadeshnikova

The restoration of the Soviet-Japanese trade and economic relations after World War II

Thu, 14 Apr 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Paper presented at the Third European Congress on World and Global History in London.

The published congress programme lists Juliana Kadeshnikova (St. Petersburg) with the paper “The restoration of the Soviet-Japanese trade and economic relations after the World War II.”

The paper examines the post-war reconstruction of Soviet–Japanese trade and economic relations, a subject situated at the intersection of international history, economic history, and Soviet foreign relations.

Trade and Economic Relations between the USSR and Japan from the Mid-1950s to the Early 1980s

Thu, 23 Sep 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Dissertation for the degree of Candidate of Historical Sciences (specialty 07.00.02 — Russian History), defended at Saint Petersburg State University on 23 September 2010 under the supervision of Prof. Mikhail V. Khodyakov.

The research analyses the reconstruction and development of Soviet–Japanese trade and economic relations from the mid-1950s through the early 1980s, including bilateral trade, coastal trade, scientific-technical cooperation, fisheries relations, and the impact of 200-mile economic zones.

Soviet-Japanese Relations and the Introduction of 200-Mile Economic Zones

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Paper on the deterioration of Soviet–Japanese relations following the introduction of 200-mile economic zones in the 1970s. The paper appears in the conference proceedings listed in the doctoral author’s abstract.

Doctoral Research on Soviet-Japanese Economic Relations

Fri, 01 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +0000

The doctoral author’s abstract records presentation of the dissertation’s principal findings at the 15th International Interdisciplinary Conference of Young Scholars and Specialists, Man. Nature. Society: Current Problems.

The Fisheries Question in Soviet-Japanese Trade and Economic Relations in the 1950s–1960s

Sat, 21 Mar 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Research presented on fisheries as a central issue in Soviet–Japanese economic relations during the 1950s and 1960s. The paper was published in the conference proceedings.

The Fisheries Question in Trade and Economic Relations between the USSR and Japan in the 1950s–1960s

Sat, 21 Mar 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Original Russian title: «Рыболовный вопрос в торгово-экономических отношениях СССР и Японии в 1950–60-е гг.».

Published in the proceedings of the Eleventh All-Russian Scientific Conference of Students, Postgraduates and Young Scholars on World History / International Relations, World in the Modern Era, Saint Petersburg, 2009, pp. 252–255.

Restoration of Trade and Economic Relations between the USSR and Japan after the Second World War

Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Original Russian title: «Восстановление торгово-экономических отношений между СССР и Японией после Второй мировой войны».

UDC: 94(47+520)“1955/1958”:339.56

Published in Vestnik of Saint Petersburg University, Series 2: History, issue 4 (2009), pp. 105–109.

Argument

The restoration of trade and economic relations between the USSR and Japan in the post-war period is usually correlated with the signing of the 1957 Trade Agreement, while little note is taken of the preparatory efforts that preceded it. This is largely a consequence of the source situation: most records of the Ministry of Foreign Trade of the USSR remained classified. The study therefore builds on the materials of the Archive of Foreign Policy of the Russian Federation (AVPRF) — in particular File 146 (Japan), which systematises documents on trade, economic issues and technical cooperation, together with analytical reviews of the Japanese press and reference data prepared by the Far East Department of the Soviet MOFA — and, in part, on the records of Tsentrosoyuz (the Central Union of Consumer Cooperatives) held in the Russian State Archive of the Economy (RGAE).

On this basis the article advances a central claim: it was Soviet and Japanese cooperators who pioneered the re-establishment of trade and economic relations between the two countries. Cooperative trade with Japan has not been adequately studied and has usually been collapsed into coastal trade; the article argues that it should be distinguished as a separate and independent form of exchange.

Chronology reconstructed from the archives

1954 — The 19th Congress of the International Cooperative Alliance is the first step: Tsentrosoyuz representatives invite a Japanese mission to visit the USSR for the first time since the war.
1955 — A mission of the Japanese Union of Consumer Societies visits the USSR. The Soviet side deliberately favours cooperative channels, less tied to the state and representing small and medium business. Mission head Takeshige Ishiguro engages directly with A. P. Klimov, Chairman of the Board of Tsentrosoyuz.
March 1956 — The negotiations lead to the founding of the Japanese Cooperative Trade Company (authorised capital ¥1,500,000).
26 April 1956 — The first official post-war contract (artificial fibres for round timber) is concluded — several months before the joint Declaration restoring diplomatic relations.
27 August 1956 — JETRO invites Soviet trade organisations to the 4th international trade fair in Japan (May 1957), signalling the warming political climate.
6 December 1957 — The USSR–Japan Trade Agreement is signed in Moscow.

Interpretation

Japanese opinion split along commercial lines. Government circles and firms tied to the United States were cautious — Minister Ishibashi doubted the USSR had goods worth importing beyond timber, oil and coal. But the trade and industrial circles of the northern and Sea-of-Japan prefectures, largely organised in cooperative associations, pressed for expansion, hoping to relieve underused capacity and revive their ports. The article concludes that this medium and small business lobby, convinced of the profitability of trade with the USSR, overcame the resistance of the major monopolies and pushed the Japanese government toward the 1957 agreement.

Archival citations: AVPRF, f. 146 (op. 45–51); RGAE, f. 484, op. 19, d. 2056.

The Deterioration of Relations between the USSR and Japan following the Introduction of 200-Mile Economic Zones in the 1970s

Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Original Russian title: «Обострение отношений между СССР и Японией в результате введения 200-мильных экономических зон в 1970-е гг.».

Published in the proceedings of the Twelfth All-Russian Scientific Conference of Students, Postgraduates and Young Scholars, World in the Modern Era, Saint Petersburg University Press, pp. 272–275.