Noboru Sakashita, 59, has been charged with illegally crossing the Russian border and illegally fishing in Russian territorial waters, the Prosecutor General's Office said. He faces a cumulative fine of about 500,000 rubles ($18,500), or up to two years in prison.
Sakashita took responsibility for the alleged poaching incident while being questioned by Russian authorities following his detention, saying the crewmembers on the Kisshin maru 31 had been unaware they had crossed Russia's maritime border.
"A request for special proceedings in his case means the suspect has pleaded guilty and [a thorough] investigation is not necessary," said Tatyana Kutuzova, a senior aide to the local prosecutor.
Kutuzova also said Sakashita could face a milder punishment in this case.
The Japanese captain was arrested August 16 near the Kuril Islands in an incident in which one of his crewmates was fatally shot by Russian border guards. Russian officials said the vessel was suspected of illegally fishing for valuable crab in Russian territorial waters, and that border guards had fired warning shots only after it had refused to stop.
The other two fishermen on the vessel at the time of the incident were released August 30, and handed over to Japan by Russian authorities. Sakashita is living in a private home in Yuzhno-Kurilsk, the administrative center of Kunashir Island in the southern part of the Kuril archipelago.
A local court will consider the request September 21.
The incident strained relations between Russia and Japan, who have contested the ownership of the Kurils 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.
