On November 1, 2010, President Dmitry Medvedev for the first time as a Russian leader visited the island of Kunashiri, one of the four islands which lie north of Hokkaido.
This news bitterly angered Japan and in the Diet, the Prime Minister Naoto Kan insisted that the four northern islands are a part of Japanese territory and the president's visit is very regrettable.

Since Soviet troops invaded the four islands at the end of World War Ⅱ, Moscow has occupied these islands. The major reason for the occupation is that the islands contain metal deposits such as gold and silver, and had a strategic importance during the Cold War to confront the United States in the Pacific.

In 1956, diplomatic relations were established and the Soviet Union suggested that two of the disputed islands, Shikotan and Habomai, might be returned under a peace treaty.
However Japan refused this suggestion and insisted on the return of all four islands.
This time, Medvedev definitely stated that the four islands are a part of Russian territory and visiting there is a domestic issue.

Why have China and Russia recently strengthened their territorial insistance on the disputed areas?
I think the failure in relocating the Futenma military base weakened the security alliance between Japan and the U.S. ,which brought these unwanted results.
Both countries may have built-up a tacit collaboration against Japan to test the DPJ's ability.

I feel as if government led by the DPJ has a destiny to provoke trouble on foreign affairs.
Foreign policies in Japan have been constructed by many foreign bureaucrats and without their knowledge or wisdom, politicians cannot normalize relationships between Japan and other nations.
The DPJ tends to exclude the power of bureaucrats, resulting in the failure on foreign policies.