Japan has decided to shut down all six branches of its Japan Center for Trade and Economic Development in Russia, according to Kyodo News on September 10.
The announcement was made by Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi, who did not provide a reason for the move.
The Japan Centers, located in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Nizhny Novgorod, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Khabarovsk, and Vladivostok, were established in 2000 under bilateral memorandums between Tokyo and Moscow. As reported by Kyodo, the centers were seen as a symbol of friendship between the two countries.
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According to Kyodo News, the centers offered Japanese language training, organized business seminars across Russian regions, and facilitated internships in Japan.
They also helped connect Russian businesses with Japanese companies. Their activities were financed by the Japanese government through the embassy in Moscow.
In January 2025, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin ordered the suspension of the intergovernmental memorandums that governed the centers’ operations.
The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs was instructed to notify Japan of the decision, according to Russian government documents.
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Japan has imposed multiple sanctions on Russia since the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, including restrictions on more than 200 categories of exports such as ships, drilling platforms, electrical equipment, and mineral fuels. The Ministry of Economy also prohibited the import of vaccines and medical equipment into Russia.
As part of G7 agreements in 2024, Tokyo pledged $3 billion in financial support for Ukraine, to be drawn from frozen Russian assets. According to Kyodo, the Kremlin denounced the move as illegal and threatened “calculated countermeasures,” while the Russian Foreign Ministry described the mechanism as “fraudulent.”
Earlier, Reuters reported that Japan and South Korea were weighing the possibility of pursuing nuclear weapons amid doubts over US security guarantees. Lawmakers and former military leaders in both countries pointed to Washington’s cautious stance on Ukraine as a factor undermining confidence in American deterrence.
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