I wrote something like "California and Texas may become independent" during the last presidential election, and as planned, I missed my prediction.

However, with the appearance of the "President instigating the attack on the Capitol", I am proud to say that the direction was quite correct -- although it was more diagonal than I had expected.

This time, while watching the NHK news, I whispered to my wife,

I wonder if we can take advantage of Russia's invasion of Ukraine to retake the Northern Territories."

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Thanks to Google Maps, the world map has become easier to read these days.

I was looking at a map while reading an article about Russia's annexation of the Crimean Peninsula in 2014, and I thought to myself, "I see".

The Crimean peninsula is located north of the center of the Black Sea, and by controlling this peninsula, not only Ukraine, but also Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey, and Georgia, which face the Black Sea, can be stared down (in fact, it seems to be working).

In addition, Russia seems to have seized Ukraine's military equipment in the Crimea Peninsula.

On the other hand, if Ukraine joins NATO, Russia will have no buffer area. Moreover, the distance between Kiev and Moscow is also quite close (750km).

For Ukraine, it would be unbearable if it were to become a second annexation of the Crimean Peninsula, so it is understandable that it would want to join NATO and have NATO act as a deterrent.

Well, you can make a good argument that "how can other countries have any say in the military alliances of sovereign nations? But the history of war has been a history of overriding such things.

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Back to the story.

I don't think I should talk about the "Northern Territories Recapture Plan" because I don't have the qualifications or ability to discuss it, and I haven't studied it properly -- however,

I can't recall any case where a war initiated by Japan has been successfully closed.