Shinzo Abe

Abe and Trump discussed Russia, agreed on need to boost ties with Putin

In the modern era, Japan has always had a terse and at times difficult relationship with Russia. The Russo-Japanese war of 1904/5 was a humiliating defeat for Russia which played a part in fomenting the Russian Revolution of 1905.
During the 1940s, Russia opposed Japan although the Pacific theatre of the Second World War was largely dominated by the United States and of course in China by Mao’s partisans.