| Popis: |
This chapter focuses on the two Russian Asia-Pacific seaport towns of Korsakov and Yuzhno-Kurilsk, situated in the Russian–Japanese maritime borderland area in the northeast Pacific. It scrutinizes the influence of the Japanese Other on the post-Soviet development of these towns, taking the conceptual perspective of Border Studies as a departure point, highlighting the ambivalence of borders (barrier and exclusion; permeability and bridging). To marry the Border Studies perspective with the Urban Studies perspective, I focus on categorizing the functions of borderland cities interacting with the Other as “outposts”, “gateways”, and “destinations”. The towns of Korsakov and Yuzhno-Kurilsk perform all three functions at once for Japanese visitors. I argue that in both cases, improved political relations and liberalized cross-border movement have not eroded, and in some respects have reinforced, the towns’ outpost roles and identities; moreover, in the case of Yuzhno-Kurilsk, it has inspired a revitalization of autocratic policies. At the same time, the desire to become more attractive destinations for tourists has prompted the authorities of both towns to recognize the previously eschewed legitimacy of a Japanese past and to revitalize the towns’ central places. |
