In the hope of making progress in a long-standing bilateral territorial dispute with Russia, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe cited the spirit of hikiwake, a martial arts term for a draw or tie, in his previous talks with President Vladimir Putin in November, a diplomatic source said Tuesday.
The term, which is used in judo, was originally mentioned by Putin, a judoka himself, in an interview with foreign media in March 2012, apparently showing his readiness to settle the dispute involving Russian-administered islands off Hokkaido.
In the talks, held on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit in the Turkish resort of Antalya, Putin apparently took Abe's remark positively and invited him to visit a city in Russia for their meeting, according to the source.