evidence: Historically, these islands have been a flashpoint between Russia and Japan. Negotiations over their ownership date back to 1855, a year after Commodore Perry’s black ships partially opened Japan to the West. In the aftermath of the Russo-Japanese War a half century later, the territory south of the 50th parallel North was ceded to Japan, an arrangement that remained in place until the Soviet Union’s late entry into the Pacific War on 8th August 1945. At that point, the prefecture of Karafuto was disestablished as an administrative entity, becoming instead the South Sakhalin Oblast. One can only speculate how much of Hokkaido might have been absorbed in turn had the war not ended when it did. [...] But a weakened Russia, exhausted by war and keen to reopen trade with wealthy countries beyond China, might be willing to revisit the issue if Japan, in turn, were to put a reasonable figure on the reestablishment of Karafuto. Such a deal would require swiftness on Japan’s part, so as to take advantage of what will likely be a narrow window of opportunity. It would also require deft diplomatic maneuvering so as not to alarm the South Koreans, for whom memories of Japanese expansionism are never far from the surface.