Japan scrambled several jets on Thursday after two Russian fighters entered Japanese airspace over Rishiri Island near the tip of Japan’s northernmost Hokkaido Island, according to reports by the country’s Defense Ministry.
Although the Russian jets left Japan’s airspace without incident after a little over a minute, the incursion was significant in both its location and its timing. It happened near the Kuril Islands (called Northern Territories in Japan) which have been disputed by Moscow and Tokyo since the end of World War ii, when Russia took them from Japan. The incident occurred on Japan’s “Northern Territories Day,” when Japanese nationals traditionally rally to call for Tokyo to wrest the islands from Russian control, or for Russia to simply give them back.
