ABSTRACT
Relations between the Soviet Union and Japan depend to a large extent on the overall condition of the relationship between the two superpowers. This is one of the reasons why the climate between Moscow and Tokyo remained frosty in the first half of the eighties and occasionally dropped to the lowest level since the re-opening of diplomatic relations in 1956. The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, the forced enlargement of the Soviet Pacific fleet, the deployment of SS-20s in the Asian part of the Soviet Union, the increasing demonstrations of Soviet military might in the immediate vicinity of Japan, the persistent stubborn refusal to recognize the existence of a territorial problem with Japan, unresolved since the end of World War II—these and other activities of Soviet policy towards Asia made Japan move even closer to its US alliance partner in terms of security policy.
