What's the bag limit on J-fishermen?

[Taro Toporific]

[floatr][/floatr]

Crew member on Japanese fishing boat shot dead by Russian border patrol
Crisscross, Wednesday, August 16, 2006 at 10:15 EDT
TOKYO --A crew member of a Japanese fishing boat was shot dead by a Russian unit patrolling waters near disputed islands off Japan's northern coast when the boat was captured by the unit Wednesday morning, the Japan Coast Guard said.
The No. 31 Kisshin Maru, a crab fishing boat, was operating in waters around Kaigara Island...more...

[kurohinge1]

Crew member on Japanese fishing boat shot dead by Russian border patrol

. . . The No. 31 Kisshin Maru, a crab fishing boat, was operating in waters around Kaigara Island...more...

Two of the 4 reports I've read stated that "the Russian border patrol had seized the Japanese fishing boat before firing"
[my emphasis].

No one likes a Japanese with crabs, but there's no need to shoot them.

[kurohinge1]

Japanese fisherman shot dead by Russian coast guard near disputed island

. . . This is the first time in 10 years that the Russian coast guard has shot at a Japanese fishing boat operating in the sea near the disputed islands. It is also the first fatal incident since 1956.

The victim has been identified as Mitsuhiro Morita, 35.

The JCG has received information that the incident occurred in Japan's territorial waters. If the information proves to be true, it could develop into a diplomatic dispute between Japan and Russia.

The Russian coast guard fired shots at the 4.9-ton Kisshin Maru No. 31 operating off Kaigara Island, part of the Russian-held Northern Territories, and seized the vessel. The fishing boat is now heading to Kunashiri Island, JCG officials said.

. . . The Nemuro Coast Guard Office has dispatched two patrol boats to the scene following the incident . . . more

And Foxnewsreports:

. . . The Japanese Foreign Ministry planned to summon Russia's deputy ambassador to explain the incident, Kyodo News agency reported. Foreign Ministry officials declined to comment on the report . . . more

[Greji]

[floatr][/floatr]
The No. 31 Kisshin Maru, a crab fishing boat, was operating in waters around Kaigara Island...more...

Ahh, there's your answer Taro! They were trying to get the crabs! You are only allowed one fisherman in the bag, during crab season.

Actually, a few years ago (during the Soviet years), the Japanese used to run the so-called repo-sen's out to penetrate Soviet waters. These were high speed boats that would attempt to get in, get fish and/or crabs and get out before the Sovs caught them. A lot of these fisherman got locked up and a lot got shot up. But they all knew it was a chance they must take to get into the best fishing spots.

Also, those who paid (or provided other support services to the GRU, or in some cases, even the KGB) were allowed a free pass into the controlled fishing areas and territorial waters of the USSR.

[dimwit]

The Japanese story doesn't make any sense at all. My guess is that they were poaching, got caught, tried to flee and were shot at.

They were of course fishing in Japanese territorial waters except that Japan is the only country the recognizes those waters as being Japanese.

[Greji]

[kurohinge1]

Illegally caught crab, octopus found aboard Japanese vessel - FSB


The deceased - Mitsuhiro Morita

MOSCOW. Aug 16 (Interfax) - More than three tonnes of crab and octopus caught without permission and crab traps have been found on board the Japanese fishing vessel seized in Russia's Far East early on Wednesday morning, the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) said in a press release.

"Two warning shots were fired to make the vessel stop," the release reads.

The fisherman was reportedly killed by a shot to the head from a Kalashnikov - clearly the weapon of choice for protecting the mighty Russian Federation from being invaded by a boat with 4 scary fishermen.

I guess, in Russian terms, he has been "warned".

[Greji]

I guess, in Russian terms, he has been "warned".

Well, if he wasn't they certainly got his attention. They say this is the first death since 1956, but I doubt that.

As Dimwit thought, these guys are plain and simply put, poachers. That was the entire "Reposen" deal in the years past. They would use their speed to out-run the Russian Navy and Costal Patrol ships. The Russians used to get pissed and fire on them frequently and that very well may have been the case here. Now and then they would catch a few of these guys, but most of the time, not!

But all of this was usually well within Russian territorial limits, which in some places is only a couple of miles of the Hokkaido coast.

I doubt seriously that the J-government will be able to make the Japanese territorial waters charge stick, or even pursue it. There have been to many J-fisherman violating the Russian border in the past for them to be serious about this. However, it is worthy of note that they have made these allegations, because in days of old, the Japanese would have never challenged the old Soviet regime on this type of a charge.

[Buraku]

Petersburg Woman Killed In Japanese Cabaret Club
http://www.sptimes.ru/index.php?action_id=2&story_id=18597
The attack was originally seen by some Russian media as part of a vendetta or retaliation for the actions of Russian border guards who accidentally killed a Japanese fisherman during illegal fishing in Russian territorial waters earlier this month. As yet, no connection between the two events has been established by the Japanese law enforcement agencies.


Japan demands Russia's apology over fishing vessel incident
http://www.interfax.ru/e/B/politics/28.html?id_issue=11576599

Sergei Ivanov visits Novaya Zemlya nuclear testing site

Ivanov visited the town of Belushya, where experts responsible for testing nuclear weapons live. News agencies covering his trip noted some major changes there. Local buildings have been restored and covered with painted siding. The town's stores offer just about the same goods as those in Moscow, and their exorbitant local prices now match those in the Russian capital. The town has a fitness center and a swimming pool. Its residents, who can, at long last, dial their friends and relatives in mainland Russia, can also watch 24 TV channels.

But journalists mainly focused on Ivanov's meetings with military personnel and the testing site's research associates.
However, few people noted the fact that Ivanov and Sergei Kiriyenko, the head of the Federal Agency for Atomic Energy, flew by helicopter to Matochkin Shar Strait, which divides the archipelago's two largest islands (and where the nuclear testing site is located), because there were no journalists aboard. However, it is easy to understand Ivanov's interest in the place.

Russian leaders have always made modernizing the country's nuclear arsenal a priority because the country must maintain a balance with the other members and soon-to-be members of the nuclear club. Nuclear weapons must be upgraded in order to deter any potential aggressor. The safe storage of nuclear warheads and their maintenance is another extremely important issue.


Russia may detain crewmen 'til mid-Sept
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/world/20060823TDY02010.htm

[Greji]

Russia may detain crewmen 'til mid-Sept
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/world/20060823TDY02010.htm

I understand about the Russian media wondering if there is a link between the slaying of the crab fisherman and the Russian hooker, but I don't understand the rest of your post. Are you saying the Russians are going to nuke the crab fishermen, or just Hokkaido in general?

[Buraku]

or just Hokkaido in general?

I'm just saying Jiminto, governor Blinky, and the Japanese right like to bully Taiwan/Philippines/Korea and others on issues like Yasukuni and ownership rocks in the Ocean
sometimes Jiminto have a point but other times they are just rightwing assholes who hide behind the protection of the US military

but they rarely push the Ruskies,
why ?
I suppose its cos Koizumi knows if the shit hit the fan, the Russians would finish the job when they started to annex Nippon's Kurile Islands near the end of WW2
plus Russians unlike the Japanese have their own military and build pretty good Migs, ICBMs, Nukes, Subs and Sukhoi

[Greji]

I'm just saying Jiminto, governor Blinky, and the Japanese right like to bully Taiwan/Philippines/Korea and others on issues like Yasukuni and ownership rocks in the Ocean

Are you using the right term here? "To Bully"? Japan cannot even get a consensus together to get a peace keeping contingent for the UN unless they have two to three years for the proper nemawashi!

IMHO and also in that of the US Government, at least while I was still serving, the J-side has been far too slow to re-arm and to build up a military that is something other than a Corps of Civil Engineers for the Sapporo Yuki Matsuri. Something that the could do a little "bullying" should they need to express themselves. Do not be deceived by a lot of the Japanese media that want to appeal to the nationalistic themes and punch out bullshit like that under a "shouldn't do" or "must do" bully theme.

As far as hiding behind the US, most Japanese won't even consider that as a viable option, because they are pretty much of a common belief that the US would not actually spill blood to defend Japan if the balloon went up. I disagree, but the media has a large following that believes this to the letter.

So it would look like the only regulars to the shrine will be Koizumi and the dog and Koizumi will be gone in a month!

[Buraku]

You don't need guns to bully and bribe,
for example Japan can do it diplomatically or through economics for example during the time the Japanese dropped economic sanctions or on Pakistan, Cambodia, India...et cetera

I think you're right about the fact that the US military presence in Asia is limited, there ain't enough in Okinawa or bullets in Taiwan to keep China at bay, and they wouldn't be able to do squat if Pakistan and India started blowing off nukes, but most countries have sane leaders so nobody in their right mind wants to go one-on-one with a superpower like the USA.

Japan has two choices with its N.Korea/Taiwan/Russia/S.Korea/China problems and territorial disputes.

1 It can go into an arms race
the problem here is that since the 40s with WW2, China and Russia are no longer the piss poor army that Japan once kicked around
the Chinese and Russian military are so far ahead it may take decades or a hundred years before Nippon plays catch up.

2 Japan can do a bit of political fighting
political work and checkbook diplomacy while Nippon remains everyone's favourite Asian pet.
Nations around the globe look at China/S.Korea/Russia with a lot suspicion than Japan, and the political game is there to be won.

[Mulboyne]

RIA Vovosti: No charges against border guards in fatal Japan ship incident

No criminal case will be opened against Russian border guards who detained a Japanese vessel in a fatal incident almost two weeks ago, the chief military prosecutor's office said Monday..."A criminal case has not been opened because of a lack of corpus delicti in the border guards' actions," a spokesman said. The prosecutor's office said the actions of the border guards were lawful...Japan protested the death 35-year-old Mitsujiro Morita. Russia said it regretted the incident but added that responsibility also rested with Japanese authorities for failing to address the poaching problem after Moscow had repeatedly highlighted it.

[Mulboyne]

[Greji]

Kommersant: Kissin Maru Master Is Poacher of Experience

Hey, what've we been saying. They'll fine him big time, he'll be released, Japan will make a great scene (although a bit subdued) at his homecoming. He will be back poaching within six months to a year. It's a script that has been acted out many times in the past.

The Russians have not and will not stop firing on the boats in their waters. They are legally within their rights. Japan has no bitch, other that to say "Hey, that ain't nice", to which the Russkies will answer that it ain't, but it's legal!

The in-bag limit for crab poachers will probably remain at one, although they may up it for salmon snatchers, but crabbers rank only slightly above the kelp klatchers, so don't look for better seasons there!

[Buraku]

Russian court finds Japan fisherman guilty of poaching, intrusion

The court, located on one of the Russian-held northwestern Pacific islands at the center of the two countries' decades-old territorial dispute, issued the ruling in the first hearing on the case, thus concluding the trial in just one day.

http://mdn.mainichi-msn.co.jp/national/news/20060921p2a00m0na021000c.html

[Buraku]

Russia inspects 4 Japanese fishing boats

http://www.japantoday.com/jp/news/389397

[Mulboyne]

No shooting reported this time.

IHT: Japanese fishing boat captured off northwestern Russia

The Russian border guard has captured a Japanese fishing boat in waters off the Kamchatka Peninsula in northwestern Russia, a news report said Sunday. The Hoshin Maru 88, with 16 crew members and the captain, was being taken to a port in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy on the peninsula as they were suspected of illegal fishing, Kyodo News agency reported citing unnamed officials of the Japanese consulate general in Vladivostok and Russian media reports. The ship was stopped Friday evening by authorities and was to arrive at the port in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy on Sunday, Kyodo said. Officials at the Japanese Foreign Ministry and the consulate general were not immediately available Sunday. Kyodo quoted an unnamed official of Ikeda Suisan, the operator of the ship in Toyama in northwestern Japan, as saying that the boat was not seized but under inspection. Official at Ikeda Suisan could not immediately comment on the report. The boat declared 14 tons less than the actual catch, Kyodo said.

[Mulboyne]

Mainichi: Death of Japanese fisherman killed by Russian gunfire accepted as work accident

KUSHIRO, Hokkaido -- A local labor standards inspection office has designated the death of a Japanese fisherman shot dead by Russia near a chain of disputed islands as a government work-related accident, and has started paying his bereaved family a pension, it has been learned. The fisherman, 35-year-old Mitsuhiro Morita, was killed by gunfire from a Russian patrol boat near Kaigara Island, one of the islands in the Northern Territories, while fishing in the area in August last year. Thursday marked the first anniversary of the shooting. In July, the Kushiro Labor Standards Inspection Office designated Morita's death as a government work-related accident, and began paying his bereaved family a compensation pension.

[Greji]

Mainichi: Death of Japanese fisherman killed by Russian gunfire accepted as work accident

Damn. I believe I'd just submit my retirement papers. That seems like a bit easier way to draw the pension.

[Doctor Stop]

So, I guess this means yakuza injured or killed in the line of duty also qualify for Rosai?

[Buraku]

Fukuda, Putin discuss territorial dispute on phone

http://www.japantoday.com/jp/news/420346

[Greji]

Fukuda, Putin discuss territorial dispute on phone

http://www.japantoday.com/jp/news/420346

and that's as close in distance as they'll get on it.....

[Buraku]

Russia will soon cease to be a world power
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/11/11/nspy311.xml

It's from the Telegraph so you have to take this with a pinch of salt as they are sometimes found singing songs of praise for 'The Spectator' and fossils like Edward Heath, Eisenhower, Thatcher, Giuliani, Pauline Hanson and Joerg Haider

[Buraku]

Sleepy Side of Japan Stirs As Russia's Far East Booms
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121980360787475397.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

One of the poorest regions of Japan is getting a boost from a new source: Russia's booming economy.

Is the wsj reading too much Pravda?



On the other side


Putin flexes his muscles and shoots 'runaway' tiger in display of masculinity as tensions with West intensify over oil supply
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1051017/Putin-flexes-muscles-shoots-runaway-tiger-display-masculinity-tensions-West-intensify-oil-supply.html

As Europe's leaders agonise over what to do about Russian aggression in Georgia, Vladimir Putin was busy showing the world that he's not a man to be messed with - not even by a tiger.

The Kremlin strongman, widely seen as the driving force behind the invasion of Georgia, shot the big cat with a tranquilliser, apparently saving the lives of a group of TV journalists.

The drama in his country's remote far east came as Gordon Brown declared that measures need to be taken to prevent further 'Russian aggression'.

PS It's the Dailymail the British newspaper equivalent of foxnews and free republic so take it with another pinch of salt

[Behan]

NEMURO, Hokkaido (Kyodo) Seiji Maehara, state minister in charge of the Northern Territories — as the government calls four Russian-held islands off Hokkaido claimed by Japan — said Saturday that Tokyo should keep demanding their return from Russia's "illegal occupation."

"Historically, the Northern Territories are an integral part of Japan. It is literally an illegal occupation (by Russia) and Japan should keep saying so," Maehara told reporters after viewing the islands from a Japan Coast Guard vessel.

Before boarding the boat, Maehara also viewed the islands — Kunashiri, Etorofu, Shikotan and the Habomai islet group — from Cape Nosappu in the city of Nemuro.

"Though faintly, you can see Kunashiri with the naked eye. As a Japanese national, I felt nostalgic," Maehara told reporters.

More at http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/nn20091018a1.html

I was looking at a Japanese world map at one of my schools and I noticed that even the bottom half Sakhalin was a different color from the rest of Russia. Japanese maps always include the four islands off Hokkaido they claim, but it seems some cartographers are suggesting a bit more.
Another thing with Japanese maps is that they don't show how the chains of Russian islands come down to Hokkaido and it looks like the Russians occupied Japanese islands far from their own territory.