Tokyo protests Russia’s arrest of Japanese journalist on suspicion of spying

TOKYO -- Japan lodged a protest with Russia on Wednesday over the arrest of a Japanese journalist on suspicion of spying, demanding that Moscow provide an explanation, consular access and humane treatment. Tuesday's arrest is the latest dispute between the two countries, whose tensions have spiked after President Vladimir Putin 's visit in August to Iturup, one of four disputed Kuril Islands, a Moscow-controlled Pacific archipelago that also is claimed by Japan.Russia's Federal Security Service said the man, who works for the Hokkaido Shimbun newspaper, was suspected of gathering information about Russia's defense capability on behalf of a Japanese intelligence agency.The FSB, the main successor to the Soviet KGB, said it arrested the man on Sakhalin Island as he was preparing to leave Russia. Hokkaido Shimbun said the man had been reporting in Russia on a journalist visa and was due to leave the country Monday. The newspaper did not disclose his name.Kimitake Nakamura, head of the European Affairs Bureau at Japan's Foreign Ministry, summoned Russian Ambassador Nikolay Nozdrev to protest the arrest and Moscow's announcement without an explanation to Japan's government, according to...