Can Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori stage a political comeback via his March 25 talks in Irkutsk with Russian President Vladimir Putin? Aides have hinted that he favors the "two-island" compromise solution to Japan's long-festering dispute with Russia over ownership of the so-called Northern Territories.

In other words, Japan should put aside its claim to the two larger disputed islands of Etorufu and Kunashiri at the southern end of the Kuril Island chain in exchange for gaining the nearby islands of Shikotan and the Habomai group.

But conservative opposition in Japan to any back-tracking from Japan's hardline "four-island" claim remains strong. Mori's task is daunting.