The island dispute with China has been simmering for months, deep to the south off Okinawa and into the East China Sea, but now it looks like Russia is pressing its own dispute with Tokyo, and that could make for a new and interesting dynamic throughout the region.

The AFP reports that the pair of Su-27s were picked up on radar off the coast of northernmost Hokkaido island for over a minute. The incursion came after Japan's new prime minister said he wanted to work on the Russian dispute to the satisfaction of both countries.