During his visit, Mikhail Fradkov will have talks with Emperor Akihito, Premier Shinzo Abe, attend a trade and investment forum in Tokyo, and meet with other top officials.
The visit will focus on trade and economic cooperation, as well as energy interaction, a Russian government source told journalists, saying that Russia will not raise the territorial issue.
"The territorial dispute issue is not on the agenda. That is a very complicated and delicate issue, to be discussed between the foreign ministries. But we treat the possibility that Japan could raise it with understanding," the source said.
Russia and Japan have contested the ownership of the Kuril Islands for over 60 years. Japan maintains that their seizure by the Soviet Union at the end of World War II was illegal, and the dispute has until now kept the two countries from signing a formal peace treaty.
The source said bilateral cooperation should be based on mutual investment in the hi-tech sector.
Russia and Japan are expected to sign a number of intergovernmental documents in the spheres of economic, customs and earthquake prevention cooperation, as well as commercial documents, including a framework credit agreement with Japan Bank of International Cooperation.
Russia is interested in the participation of Japanese investors in the development of East Siberian deposits and the construction of the East Siberia-Pacific Ocean oil pipeline (ESPO), the Russian industry and energy minister said Monday.
Minister Viktor Khristenko held a meeting Monday with Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso to discuss cooperation in energy and other sectors. Both ministers head the Russian-Japanese intergovernmental commission on trade and economic cooperation.
The East Siberia-Pacific Ocean oil pipeline is slated to pump up to 1.6 million barrels per day of crude from Siberia to Russia's Far East, of which about 605,000 bbl/d will then be sent on to China and the Asia-Pacific region via the offshoot.
The first stage of the ESPO was launched last April and was initially scheduled for completion in the second half of 2008. It will link Taishet, in the Eastern Siberian region of Irkutsk, to Skovorodino, in the Amur Region.
The second stage will involve the construction of a Skovorodino-Kozmino pipeline, to pump 367.5 million barrels per year, and an increase in the Taishet-Skovorodino pipeline's capacity to 588 million barrels annually.
A Moscow diplomatic source said Monday Russia's top nuclear official plans to discuss signing an intergovernmental agreement on the civilian use of nuclear energy during his visit to Japan.
Sergei Kiriyenko, head of the Federal Agency for Nuclear Power, is included in the prime minister-led delegation.
The source said Kiriyenko might take part in talks on projects in which Russia would enrich uranium for Japanese nuclear power plants.
"The implementation of such projects will only be possible after a bilateral agreement on civilian nuclear use is signed and legal subtleties are resolved," the source said.
