purpnyellow comments

They are developing fishing, tourism & agricultural industries there as well as establishing security / military enterprises.

To give up that would be a serious black mark on any politician in Russia. They would be under a barrage of attacks domestically.

That's not the biggest problem. Main thing is a relationships between Japan and US. During the German reunification US assured Soviets that NATO would not expand on the east, and now they're sharing borders. Since US already has base in Okinawa, that would be stupid for Russia to give those islands to US's ally.

But, they can live with noise and crimes commits by the local people. They carry on as if without the US base personnel there would be no crime in Okinawa.

Why should they accept more criminals, especially since Japanese government try to cover them, and local people don't have real profit from this situation. If they already have some level of crime in Okinawa doesn't mean they'd like to rise it.

That's sounds so American: using japanese islands to get some control over the East China Sea and then charging Japan for defending it's economy

ok, let's see:

Japan took these islands in 1905 as a consequence of the Treaty of Portsmouth

In 1951 The Treaty of San Francisco was signed which states that Japan renounces all right, title and claim to the Kurile Islands, and to that portion of Sakhalin and the islands adjacent to it over which Japan acquired in 1905. So basically we went 50 years back.

In a 2005 article in The Japan Times, journalist Gregory Clark writes that official Japanese statements, maps and other documents from 1951, and the statements by the head of the U.S. delegation to the San Francisco conference—John Foster Dulles—make it clear that at the time the San Francisco Treaty was concluded in October 1951, both Japan and the United States considered the islands of Kunashiri and Etorofu to be a part of the Kuril Islands and to be covered by Article (2c) of the Treaty. So Kunashiri and Etorofu should be Russian.

During the 1956 peace talks between Japan and the Soviet Union, the Soviet side proposed to settle the dispute by returning Shikotan and Habomai to Japan.  In the final round of the talks, the Japanese side agreed to settle on the return of Shikotan and the Habomai Islands, in exchange for a peace treaty. However, the U.S. government intervened and blocked the deal by warning that a withdrawal of the Japanese claim on the other islands would mean the U.S. would keep Okinawa.

October 19, 1956, in Moscow, the USSR and Japan signed the Soviet–Japanese Joint Declaration. The Declaration ended the state of war between the Soviet Union and Japan. Article 9 of the Joint Declaration stated: "Hereby, the U.S.S.R., in response to the desires of Japan and taking into consideration the interest of the Japanese state, agrees to hand over to Japan the Habomai and the Shikotan Islands, provided that the actual changing over to Japan of these islands will be carried out after the conclusion of a peace treaty."

As late as 2006, the Russian government of Vladimir Putin offered Japan the return of Shikotan and the Habomais if Japan would renounce its claims to the other two islands, referring to the Soviet-Japanese Joint Declaration of 1956, which promised Shikotan and the Habomais would be ceded to Japan once a peace treaty was signed.

So I don't see any problems with that, Shikotan and the Habomais were offered to Japan several times, but thank to U.S. 1956 talks were ruined. Russia is still ready to give those islands to Japan, but seems like U.S. influence on Japan is really strong

Shouldn't be worried about Russia. As Russian i can tell that there are no real problems between Russia and Japan. Our government worry about west and nothern-africa/middle-east. And right now we're in the middle of reforming pension system - that's the main topic for russians last couple of months and that will retain for the rest of the year for sure. By the way big part of russian society displeased with syrian campaign, and i don't think the government will do something like that anytime soon.