Materials of the State Archive of the Kamchatka Territory on Soviet-Japanese relations in the 1950s-1970s

Scientific article

doi 10.28995/2073-0101-2025-1-242-259

For citation

Koshkareva, Svetlana G., Sesitskaya, Anastasia S. (2025), Materials of the State Archive of the Kamchatka Territory on Soviet-Japanese relations in the 1950s-1970s, Herald of an Archivist, № 1, pp. 242-259, doi 10.28995/2073-0101-2025-1-242-259

Koshkareva, S. G., Kamchatka State University named after Vitus Bering, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Russian Federation. Vitus Bering Kamchatka State University, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Russia

Sesitskaya, A. S., State Archive of the Kamchatka Territory, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Russia

Materials of the State Archive of the Kamchatka Territory on Soviet-Japanese relations in the 1950s-1970s

Abstract

The article studies the materials of the State Archive of Kamchatka Territory (GAKK) on Soviet-Japanese relations in the 1950s - 1970s. The authors used the method of source analysis of archival documents on the basis of external and internal criticism of sources, and also applied scientific methods: historical-genetic, historical-systemic, historical-descriptive. Unpublished documents preserved in the GAKK fonds significantly add to the history of relations between the USSR and Japan after World War II, when territorial problems and the issue of concluding a peace treaty arose. One of the directions of economic interaction between the two countries after the war was the fishing industry. The problem under study does not lose its relevance today, as the relations between Russia and Japan are not easy, and the experience of interaction during the Cold War can be useful and should be taken into account when building Russia's foreign policy. The involvement of new archival sources makes it possible to reconstruct a general picture of the relationship between the two countries in the field of fisheries at a time when the escalation of tension was keenly felt in the world. The post-war period of Soviet-Japanese fishing relations in the Far East is still insufficiently studied in modern historiography. There are no comprehensive historical works on the topic. The involvement of sources from the regional archives to fill the existing historiographical gap becomes a scientific necessity. The Kamchatka fishing area was the main fishing area for Japan in the 1950s-1970s, and therefore the GACK materials are of special interest in the study of Soviet-Japanese relations in the fishing industry. The article is aimed at identifying the possibilities of introducing into the scientific turnover the previously unpublished documents from the GAKK fonds on this topic. The research allowed to determine the type, nature and content of archival documents on the subject of the study of fishing relations between the USSR and Japan in the post-war period, as well as to reveal the information capabilities of the surviving sources in characterizing the Soviet and Japanese marine fisheries before and after the conclusion of the 1956 Fisheries Convention. Considerable attention was paid to the study of documents characterizing the activities of the Soviet-Japanese Fisheries Commission (SJFC), created for the effective development of resources of the North Pacific Ocean. The research search for documents, as well as their systematization, aims to reveal the changes that took place in Japanese marine fisheries after World War II. In the early 1950s, Japanese fishermen began to actively exploit the resources of the Pacific Ocean using driftnet fishing methods. As a result, the problem of sharp reduction of salmon fish at their approach to the Kamchatka shores arose, which caused serious damage to the Soviet fishing industry, leading, among other things, to the liquidation of fish canning plants in Kamchatka. According to the GACC documents it is possible to reconstruct the transformation of this problem before the conclusion of the Fishery Convention of 1956, as well as at the stage of its implementation.

Keywords

Archival documents, unpublished sources, source analysis, Soviet-Japanese relations, fishery problems, Fishery Convention of 1956, Kamchatka fishing industry, driftnet fishing.

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About authors

Koshkareva Svetlana G., PhD in History, Vitus Bering Kamchatka State University, Department of History and Philosophy, Associate Professor, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Vitus Bering Kamchatka State University, Department of History and Philosophy, Associate Professor, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Russia, +7-925-009-74-57, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Sesitskaya Anastasia S., State Archive of Kamchatka Territory, Department of Preservation, State Records and Scientific Reference Apparatus, GAF RF, Chief Archivist, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Russia, +7-962-280-44-01, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

The article was received in the editorial office on 06.02.2024, recommended for publication on 20.12.2024