The Foreign Ministry protested to Russia's ambassador in Tokyo after President Vladimir Putin signed a decree placing the Russian business of a Japan Tobacco (JT) subsidiary under the interim management of a Russian company, and demanded that the order be withdrawn.
Nakamura Hitoshi, director-general of the ministry's European Affairs Bureau, lodged the protest with Ambassador Nikolay Nozdrev on the 6th, Kyodo News reported.
The decree puts a Japanese company's local assets under the control of a Russian entity, leaving Tokyo with little leverage beyond a diplomatic complaint. The ministry's demand that the order be revoked rests on the same channel it used to deliver the protest.
No further measures were announced. The ministry did not say what steps it might take if Russia ignores the request.