well said my friend Nihonjin san. I find it funny when some russian and chinese members here say Russia could/would have ceeded the kuril/sakhalin islands back to Japan at some point if there was no Ukraine crisis or issues between the two countries. This is laughable.
Its just like saying Japan will give back the senkakus to china/taiwan. of course this will never happen, well at least not without a bloddy fight.
Russia never had any intention of giving back any islands to Japan, in fact Russia and Japan still havent signed a peace treaty despite world war II ending decades ago. So its not like Japan has anything to lose siding with the U.S(Its main ally/patron), Russia offers Japan nothing concrete really, apart from supplying Gas/oil(which Japan pays for), Russia and Japan interests simply dont match, Japan is still a developed country and firmly entrenched in the western/U.S camp, its interests are very well served siding with the U.S for the time being/years to come.
This is not to say Japan will cut off all ties with Russia, no they wont, they will still keep trading with each other, after all China and Japan being much more bitter ennemies have an even larger trade with each other than any country in this region.lol
So japan will maintain its trade with Russia, albeit maybe it might slow down abit, but it wont change drastically. Since Russia still needs customers for its natural resources, thats the only thing Russia can offer Japan IMO, Russia produces nothing that Japan cant produce/have apart from oil.lol just being honest.
Also Nihonji you are correct, Russia also still has a feeling of national travesty after it was defeated by Imperial Japan in 1905
,same with China during world war II(though Japan couldn fully invade/conquer the whole country).
So there's is no way Russia will ever hand over the Kuril islands to Japan. Afterall, these islands were also seized by Japan when Japan crushed Russia so called 'mighty Navy' during the 1905 war.
Very few people even know/remember this. So this island issue is more than meets the eye. there's also some history/emotional sentiment in it.
Im also surprised to see some Indians here badmouthing Japan because of Japan sanctioning Russia. India should first decide which camp to which its belong, it doesnt even have a clear foreign policy. So far, its the only main big country/power who doesnt have a clear stand on major issues in the world when it affects its former cold war patron Russia and the west/U.S., it doesnt even know which place it wants for itself in this world unlike Russia and China whose main aim/objectives are to reduce/kick out western 'imperialism' and influence in their repsective spehere of inluence i.e eastern europe and Asia . India sometimes seems to be contended dancing with the West/U.S one day and Russia/China the other day.lool
India can still afford to do this, but in a decade or two from now, im afraid it wont be able to play all sides without being in one camp when it comes to critical issues affecting the west/US and RUssia/China. So india should first get its own house in order before criticizing Japan stance on sanctioning Russia(which i think is correct).