On 22 July 1988, former Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone met Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev in Moscow as part of a Japanese campaign to recover four islands lost to the Soviet Union at the end of the Second World War. In the aftermath of the visit, Ichiro Suetsugu, secretary-general of the Council on National Security Problems, wrote a report appraising the former Japanese leader’s performance on his Soviet visit and assessing future issues in the campaign.

Khrushchev and Suemitsu Kadowaki talk about the recent restoration of normal diplomatic relations between the Soviet Union and Japan. The Japanese Ambassador requests that Japanese POW's who would like to return home be permitted to do so, agrees with Khrushchev on the importance of safe fishing practices, and asks that the USSR stop testing nuclear weapons.

Kono and Khrushchev continue the previous day's discussion of the peace agreement and the transfer of two islands to Japan, highlighting that this territorial transfer can give the Japanese leverage to demand that the United States return Okinawa as well.

Ichirō Kōno, the Japanese Minister of Agriculture, raises questions about the normalization of relations between the Soviet Union and Japan. Issues that must be addressed prior to this happening include disputes over fishing rights and the transfer of the islands of Habomai and Shikotan to Japan.