Nobody should be shocked that a country reacts badly to being economically sanctioned. The last time we did this at this scale, we got a second world war.

This is a reaction to someone in the Japanese gov't mentioning that the south Kurils were disputed and they had not given up on them as sanctions were being ratcheted up.

no, it is a reaction to sanctions imposed on Russia by Japan (you can look for the phrase "Japan imposed severe economical sanctions on Russia") https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2022/03/25/national/japan-...

the real reaction to those sanctions is that japan will have to pay for russian gas in rubles which they can only do by breaking the sanctions.

The requirement to pay for the gas in rubles is a desperate decision by Russia in order to try to maintain the value of ruble. However, I can't imagine the contracts not precising the currency, so if Russia stops the gas delivery, it will be Russia breaking the contract, not Japan or any other country, for not paying in rubles.

Many countries already responded that they will not pay in rubles: Poland, Germany, France, just to name a few.

Russia is being infantile and that further damages the future of business with this country.

There is also renewed interest in Georgia to reclaim South Ossetia and Abkhazia [0] If Russia appears weak these conflict zones could flare up again.

[0] https://www.rferl.org/a/georgia-abkhazia-south-ossetia-russi...