The news that Russia granted unauthorized permission to South Korea and Taiwan for saury fishing in Japan's exclusive economic waters dealt more than a slight shock to not only those related to the Japanese fishing industry, but to related parties from all sides as well. However, this saury incident is a problem not only about saury. It is partly thought to be a problem of the very way diplomatic relations have been conducted to this point, that has left various lingering issues concerning the waters surrounding Japan in an ambiguous state.