OREANDA-NEWS  Moscow, in response to Tokyo's sanctions, is banning 13 Japanese citizens from entering Russia, including the chairman of the board of Toyota Motor and the founder of the RAKUTEN shopping platform, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

"As part of the response to Japan's ongoing sanctions actions against our country in connection with a special military operation, it was decided to indefinitely ban the entry of the following Japanese citizens into the Russian Federation... Mikitani Hiroshi, founder of RAKUTEN Corporation... Toyoda Akio, Chairman of the Board of Toyota Motor," the message reads.

Russia's sanctions list also includes the president of the Japan International Cooperation Agency, Tanaka Akihiko, as well as top managers of large Japanese firms.

Earlier, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, speaking at the New Media Festival, said that the Japanese car industry is unlikely to be able to return to the Russian market, from where it left due to the introduction of harmful sanctions by the Japanese authorities, dependent on the United States.

In total, since March 2022, Japan has imposed personal sanctions against 1,070 people from Russia, including 331 from Crimea and new regions, and sanctions against 847 companies and organizations in the form of asset freezes (310, 17 of them from Crimea and new regions) and export bans (537).