Japanese journalist arrest in Sakhalin deepens Russia-Japan rift

A Japanese journalist faces spying charges in Russia after agents arrested him on Sakhalin, sinking ties between Moscow and Tokyo further.

Moscow’s foreign ministry named the reporter as Yuki Imai. The Federal Security Service (FSB) said he writes for the Hokkaido Shimbun, a major regional daily published in Sapporo. Hokkaido, home to the paper, lies close to Russia’s Far East.

Agents seized him in the Sakhalin region, in Russia’s far east, just one day before his planned departure, the FSB said. However, it gave no date for the arrest.

FSB accuses Japanese journalist of spying

According to the agency, Imai gathered and kept material about Russian defensive capabilities. It claims he planned to hand this to a Japanese spy agency, for use against Russia.

Imai held press accreditation from the Russian foreign ministry. Even so, Moscow’s Lefortovo court ordered him kept in custody for nearly two months.

Russian state television later broadcast footage of the arrest. It showed three masked men in black handcuffing a man on the ground, while a narrator described him as a suspected spy.

Further clips showed security officers leading the man onto a plane. Afterwards, he appeared inside a cage in a Moscow courtroom.

His newspaper, for its part, did not confirm who he was. Instead, it said it was still checking the facts and that his safety came first.

Tokyo asks for fair treatment

Speaking on Wednesday, Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara said Tokyo had asked Russian officials for details. He also asked Moscow to treat the Japanese journalist fairly and with humanity.

However, Kihara did not condemn Russia. Instead, he said only that Japan would respond in an appropriate way.

Japan’s top diplomat, Toshimitsu Motegi, told lawmakers that Tokyo was trying to establish the circumstances. He said Japan had also requested humanitarian consideration and fair treatment.

Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, meanwhile, accused Tokyo of using accredited reporters to collect information that could harm Russia. In her view, the case will further sour the mood between the two nations.

Old wounds between Moscow and Tokyo

The arrest of the Japanese journalist marks the most prominent detention of a foreign reporter in Russia since 2023. That year, Russia arrested US reporter Evan Gershkovich, whom a court later convicted of spying before a prisoner swap freed him in August 2024.

Moreover, the two countries have still not signed a formal peace treaty after World War Two. A long row over the Kuril Islands, called the Northern Territories in Japan, stands in the way.

Relations worsened further when Tokyo backed Western sanctions over the war in Ukraine. Since then, Moscow has labelled Japan an “unfriendly” country, although Japan still buys Russian liquefied natural gas.

In August, Russian President Vladimir Putin stepped onto one of the disputed islands, which caused outrage in Japan. Then, on Tuesday, visitors from a Chinese province toured the same island.

That visit appeared to signal that Moscow and Beijing are coordinating their criticism of Tokyo. For now, the fate of Imai remains uncertain as diplomatic pressure builds.