Provisional Treaty of Karafuto Island A precursor to the Saint Petersburg Treaty was the Provisional Treaty of Karafuto Island, following another incident where a Japanese official was arrested near Kusunai (now Ilyinskoye). This provisional treaty was signed on March 30, 1867, but had no effect as both sides could not agree on the stipulating terms. Effects Post-1875 Treaty of Portsmouth The Treaty of Portsmouth ended the Russo-Japanese War on September 5, 1905. Its terms stipulated that Russia cede the southern half of Sakhalin to Japan at fifty degrees North latitude. This treaty changed the border between Russian and Japanese territories as had been previously decided by the 1875 Treaty of Saint Petersburg. Treaty of San Francisco The San Francisco Peace Treaty, signed on September 8, 1951, effectively ended the war between the Allies of World War II and Japan. This treaty was signed by 48 allied countries, excluding the Soviet Union. Article 2 Section C of the treaty stated that "Japan renounces all right, title and claim to the Kurile Islands, and to that portion of Sakhalin and the islands adjacent to it over which Japan acquired sovereignty as a consequence of the Treaty of Portsmouth of September 5, 1905." This did not, however, give the Kuril Islands to the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union refused to sign the Treaty of San Francisco for these reasons, with Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko stating the Soviet claim to the Kuril[e] islands and Sakhalin as being "indisputable." Soviet-Japanese Joint Declaration (1956) Since the Soviet Union did not sign the Treaty of San Francisco, the war between Japan and the Soviet Union was not officially ended until the Soviet–Japanese Joint Declaration of 1956. This declaration did not end the dispute over Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands, as it set precedence for a peace treaty to be created in the future that would solve the issue of the Kuril Islands. The declaration stated that the Soviet Union would cede Shikotan Island and the Habomai Islands after the peace treaty was signed, but such a treaty never happened. See also Kuril Islands dispute Treaty of San Francisco References 1875 treaties Boundary treaties Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg Japan–Russia border History of the Russian Far East History of Sakhalin Kuril Islands 1875 in Japan 1875 in the Russian Empire Japan–Russia treaties Treaties involving territorial changes May 1875 events