A meeting just over a month away could finally bring progress to a dispute over a group of Russian-held, Japanese-claimed islands that has prevented the countries from signing a peace treaty to end World War II.
Japan's need for stronger ties with Russia amid China's rise and the growing threat to regional stability posed by North Korea's advances in nuclear and missile technology, matched with Moscow's hopes for Japanese support to spur its economy, is shaping a path toward settlement of the prolonged territorial issue, political analysts say.
Stable public support for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Russian President Vladimir Putin is also helping create favorable political conditions and providing a rare opportunity for them to move the sensitive issue forward at their Dec. 15 summit in Yamaguchi Prefecture, they say.