Archival Documents on the Russo-Japanese Relations in the Kamchatka during the Establishment of Soviet Power
The article is of some significance, as the current state of Russo-Japanese relations cannot be assessed without taking into account historical interactions between the two nations. Japan today is a potential partner in joint development of marine resources. Kamchatka was the main Japanese area of sourcing and processing seafood in the pre-revolutionary period and during the establishment of the Soviet power, which is evidenced by sources. Analysis of archival sources allows to draw conclusions about the difficulties that developed between Russia and Japan. In the days of the Civil War in the Far East the Japanese entrepreneurs violated established norms and fished in the Russian territorial waters unchecked. Activities of the Japanese fishermen in the Kamchatka were sanctified by the Japanese government. In 1919-1924 the Japanese fishery saw a series of consolidations that culminated in the creation of the giant corporation “Nichiro”. This firm virtually monopolized all fisheries on the Kamchatka Peninsula and on the Okhotsk coast. Following the establishment of Soviet power in the Kamchatka, activities of Japanese fishermen gained legal grounds. The legislative acts passed by the Soviet government in December 1922 and March 1923 reiterated basic provisions of the earlier Fishing ConventiОп. And yet monopoly of the Japanese in the fishing industry of the Kamchatka continued for a long time. In its attempts to develop the industry, the Soviet government faced problems of fisheries supervision effectiveness, lack of material and technical means, and that of qualified personnel. The research draws on previously unpublished documents. Documents stored in the State Archive of the Kamchatka Krai, State Archive of the Khabarovsk Krai, and Russian State Historical Archive of the Far East provide insight into the nature of Russo-Japanese relations in fishery in the period of the establishment of Soviet power. Ample factual material, including statistical data on the number of fishing and crabbing grounds under Russian and Japanese fisheries, reviews and reports, and rulings of the local authorities, allow to analyze problems that confronted Russia and Japan in a difficult period, when the previous Russian political system collapsed and new one was establishing itself.