Japan revokes Russia's 'most favored nation' status; expels 8 Russians

@Yeah right ...Spot on

Nice, but so long as 80% or so of Japan's businesses are still trading with Russia and they've only stopped a few Oligarchs from getting a Lexus it doesn't mean a whole lot. Stop all trade, now. THEN start the back-patting.

Just keep going Japan. I stopped drinking Vodka!

@smithinjapan, you cannot just lump the government and companies together. If i own a business and have dealings in Russia to make a living, even my own government has no right to shut my business down until i myself want to. It's my money and my business. This is what it means to live in a democracy country. There is a difference between government projects and private companies. You don't just put both together. A lot of japanese companies can't just say let's pack up and leave on day 1. Don't make it sound so easy for people to just give up years of their investment and their hard work to establish a business there. Is a slow process and companies need to slowly do it to minimize the losses if they want to pull out.

Hiro - I hear you, but the bottom line is that all democracies DO have a say in who private businesses do business with, what they trade, and how they operate. As in this situation, the rules can and do change, sometimes very quickly. Private businesses have to adapt and sometimes cannot - having laws doesn’t make the country any less democratic, it is more a question of liberalism and political will.

@Hiro… spot on mate! You’ve stated the facts!

@Nosui… what you’ve highlighted is indeed what’s happening especially recently but if we break down what you’ve mentioned about laws not making a country less democratic, this in fact is a bit of a stretch. Many laws passed recently by Governments globally regarding sanctions didn’t have the mandate of every citizen so it was more or less of a group of dictators ( Government politicians ) implementing what they felt like doing! This is somewhat same as what China does to make its laws without public mandate and they are bashed for it! A lot of people globally still won’t support sanctions since it affects them directly or indirectly by affecting the cost of living! When life becomes more and more expensive just to survive then those who are supporting sanctions now will blame everyone else but themselves!

Why hurt business individuals if they are not involved? They may even be against the Kremlin's actions.

Not only does it hurt Russian individuals, but hurts themselves.

Seems like cutting off your nose to spite your face.

Good move Japan. Keep making it harder for Russia to do anything, for as long as they remain murderers and invaders.

Stupid move by Japan.

Japan is just being a pawn of the United States, gaining a new enemy.

The United States will not come to the defense when China invades the Senkakus Islands and end of the day the Japanese Government will be with a donkey face, looking around, and without understanding anything!

UdondashiToday  06:42 am JST

Stupid move by Japan.

Japan is just being a pawn of the United States, gaining a new enemy.

Russia is not a new enemy. It is an old enemy. No peace treaty has been signed since WWII ended and they illegally occupy four Japanese northern islands.

The United States will not come to the defense when China invades the Senkakus Islands and end of the day the Japanese Government will be with a donkey face, looking around, and without understanding anything!

The Senkakus are part of Okinawa prefecture which is home to the largest US military presence in Asia and gateway for regional operations. 2 Secretaries of State, 2 Secretaries of Defense, and the President of the US has declared that any attack on the Senkakus will invoke Article 5 of the US-JPN Mutal Defense Treaty. From your post ;d say you're the only one not understanding anything.

Good Move, Putin needs to know that Invading, firing missiles randomly, raping women, killing civilians is an EVIL ACT, WRONG, and Unacceptable.