TOKYO, July 2. /TASS/. Leader of the Japanese opposition party Reiwa Shinsengumi Taro Yamamoto believes his country is de facto an American colony.

"What is Japan? A colony under indirect control," he claimed during Japanese political leaders' debates ahead of the upper house parliamentary elections. He further asserted that the country's airspace is also under US military control. The debates were broadcast live by all major Japanese television channels.

Expanding on the topic, Yamamoto emphasized that the US "can establish military bases wherever it wants in Japan." "Isn’t that why the Northern Territories (Japan's term for the south Kuril Islands - TASS) have not been returned? The Russian side told us - if we were to return the islands, there must be no military bases there. But the American side could not make such a promise," the opposition party leader stated, proclaiming that "decolonizing Japan" should be a top priority for the nation. Yamamoto also demanded an official apology from Washington after President Donald Trump compared America’s attack on Iran’s nuclear sites to the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Moscow and Tokyo have been in negotiations on a peace treaty since the middle of the 20th century, following World War II. The main obstacle is the problem of the south Kuril Islands. The archipelago became part of the USSR after the war. Japan, however, is adamant that the Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan and Habomai islands should belong to Tokyo. The Russian Foreign Ministry has repeatedly emphasized that Russian sovereignty over these territories, which has the appropriate international legal recognition, is beyond question. After Tokyo imposed anti-Russian sanctions in connection with the situation in Ukraine, Russia froze the peace treaty talks.