Talk:Soviet–Japanese Joint Declaration of 1956

Text of the Joint Declaration

Can anyone translate from Russian full text of declaration? Or just paragraph no.9? Or have links in English?
ru:s:Советско-японская_декларация_1956_года

external official Japan links:
http://www.japantoday.ru/offic/1956.shtml
http://www.ru.emb-japan.go.jp/RELATIONSHIP/MAINDOCS/normal.html#3 —Preceding unsigned comment added by Wilderr (talk • contribs) 01:57, 20 March 2008 (UTC)

Here is my own attempt to translate Article 9 of the Joint Declaration, from the Russian link you provided:

"The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and Japan have agreed, after the restoration of normal diplomatic relations between USSR and Japan, to continue talks about a Peace Treaty.

In the meantime, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, accommodating the desires of Japan and taking into account the state interests of Japan, agrees to transfer to Japan the Habomai Islands and the Shikotan Island, stipulating, however, that the actual transfer of these islands to Japan will occur after the adoption of a Peace Treaty between the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and Japan".

A few caveats:

1) The first paragraph is a bit tricky since the punctuation marks are absent in the Russian text of this paragraph, and fairly obscure language is used. An alternate reading of the paragraph would be to assume that the normal diplomatic relations have already been restored. My own reading of this paragraph is a bit more conditional.

2) More importantly, WP:V (and, in particular, WP:RSUE) discourages the use of non-English language sources since they are not easily verifiable by the readers of the English language Wikipedia. In particular, WP:RSUE asks that, if a translation of a foreign language source is used, that this translation be provided by a reliable sourse (as defined in WP:RS), rather than by an individual Wikipedia editor. Still, WP:RSUE does seem to allow for the possibility where a Wikipedia editor translates a small portion of a foreign text and gives it as a quote. Namely, WP:RSUE says:

"Where editors use a non-English source to support material that others might challenge, or translate any direct quote, they need to quote the relevant portion of the original text in a footnote or in the article, so readers can check that it agrees with the article content. Translations published by reliable sources are preferred over translations made by Wikipedia editors."

It could be argued that this provision of WP:RSUE applies in the present case, since the text Article 9 is so short. However, given the highly controversial nature of the Kuril Islands dispute, I am not sure it is such a great idea to do it in this case. I would probably ask for input from more experienced editors (I am not one of them) before including such a user-provided translation of Article 9 in the article...

In any event, I think it is OK to add links to the Russian and the Japanese texts of the Declaration to the article, probably under "See also" or "External Links". I would say that for the Russian text this:[1] is a better link to give than the Vikiteka link you provided (or maybe one could give both links).

Regards, Nsk92 (talk) 04:21, 21 March 2008 (UTC)

I looked up the archival editions of New York Times and found an unofficial translation from Russian of the text of the Joint Declaration there: New York Times, October 20, 1956, page 2, Texts of Soviet-Japanese Statements; Peace Declaration Trade Protocol. [2]. There are a couple of problems, however. First, the electronic access to this archival edition of NYT is not free; I had to pay $3.50 to read it.

Second, the NYT translation is copyrighted by NYT, so we cannot reproduce the entire text of it here, see WP:COPY. On the other hand, giving just the Article 9 translation, in quotation marks and with a link to the NYT article, is OK, since it consists of just two sentences and thus clearly qualifies as "fair use" per WP:NONFREE. Here is the Article 9 translation, as taken verbatim from the NYT article:

"The U.S.S.R. and Japan have agreed to continue, after the establishment of normal diplomatic relations between them, negotiations for the conclusion of a peace treaty. Hereby, the U.S.S.R., in response to the desires of Japan and taking into consideration the interest of the Japanese state, agrees to hand over to Japan the Habomai and the Shikotan Islands, provided that the actual changing over to Japan of these islands will be carried out after the conclusion of a peace treaty".

In the NYT article the text of the declaration is preceded by the following: "Moscow, October 19. (UP) - Following are the texts of a Soviet-Japanese peace declaration and of a trade protocol between the two countries, signed here today, in unofficial translation from the Russian"

Regards, Nsk92 (talk) 15:13, 25 March 2008 (UTC)

I think this will be more correct translation:

"The U.S.S.R. and Japan have agreed to continue, after the re-establishment of normal diplomatic relations between U.S.S.R. and Japan, the Peace Treaty negotiations.

At the same time, the U.S.S.R., meeted the wishes of Japan and taking into consideration the interests of the Japanese State, agrees to hands over to Japan the Habomai Islands and the Shikotan Island, therewith, solely, what the actual handing over of these islands towards Japan will be carried out after the Peace Treaty between U.S.S.R. and Japan will be concluded."

Some notes.

• to meet the wishes - dont know how grammatically construct :) from verb into gerund
• to hand over (rus Передать)

Russian word "Передать" in this case means "I give you my object, what belong to me, from my hands into your hands". Maybe will use the verb "to cede"? Or you mean "to hands over"?

• i think what "changing over" close to "switching", so more correctly use "ceding" or "handing over". Or... how about law-term "cession"?

// Wilderr (talk) 02:45, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

Sorry, but there is a large number of English language mistakes in your translation. E.g. the past tense of "to meet" is "met", not "meeted". Moreover, "meeting the wishes of" is not a colloquial English phrase and "in response to" is better here. Also "therewith, solely" is also really bad and obscure English. Also "..., what the actual handing over" is incorrect English as well (wrong usage of "what" here). "Towards Japan": wrong usage of "towards" (should be "to Japan"), and so on. While I have a few minor quips with the New York Times translation, I think it is much better to use the New York Times translation of Article 9 than a translation by individual Wikipedia users, see the requirements of WP:RSUE. This is particularly true since the Kuril Islands dispute is a controversial matter and in such cases we need to stick to the requirements of WP:V particularly closely. Regards, Nsk92 (talk) 03:09, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

Relevant?

Removed the following:

Two paper knives' episode

October 18, 1956, Ichirō Kōno (ja:河野一郎), Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, watched out Khrushchev's paper knife. It was big, beautiful and sharp with Lenin's picture. Kōno asked Khrushchev to give it to him. Khrushchev generously gave it to him. After the negotiation, Kōno gave it to PM Ichirō Hatoyama, as he said to Hatoyama, "I got Khrushchev's dangerous paper knife, so I give it to you, Prime Minister, instead of the Islands". On Hatoyama's dialy too, "Got paper knife from". The next day's negotiation, Kōno asked one more paper knife to himself. Khrushchev took one out of too many paper knives' cabinet. Khrushchev got Kōno to think "Touché".

Regards, -- 李博杰  | —Talk contribs email 11:05, 5 October 2009 (UTC)

Is the 1956 joint declaration still valid?

Considering USSR is long gone. Russia is successor of RSFSR, not USSR. My guess is the 1956 joint declaration is no longer valid. --208.72.125.2 (talk) 20:50, 15 January 2020 (UTC)

WP:NOTAFORUM We don't care what the IP's guess is. Meters (talk) 20:31, 21 January 2020 (UTC)