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 The protest over the disputed islands could set back Japanese
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's efforts to court resource-rich Russia
and keep the door open to dialogue, despite the Ukraine crisis.
Tokyo and Moscow have been involved in a decades-old dispute over
the islands north of Hokkaido, which are known in Russia as the
Southern Kuriles, and referred to as the Northern Territories in
Japan.
Russia seized them in the waning days of World War Two and the
dispute has kept the two countries from signing a formal peace
treaty.
After Medvedev visited Iturup island on Saturday, senior Japanese
foreign ministry official Hajime Hayashi lodged the protest with the
Russian ambassador to Japan, Evgeny Afanasiev, by telephone, the
Japanese ministry said.
 Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida will delay a visit to Russia
that had been arranged for the end of August, the Nikkei business
daily said, but did not elaborate.
Japan has also been looking to arrange a visit this year by Russian
President Vladimir Putin for summit talks with Abe, Kyodo news
agency said.
Energy interests drive efforts to forge closer ties between Russia
and Japan.
Russia plans to at least double oil and gas flows to Asia in the
next 20 years and Japan has been forced to resort to huge fuel
imports to replace lost nuclear energy, after its reactors were shut
down because of the 2011 Fukushima disaster.
During his visit to the island, Medvedev did not mention the
territorial dispute, instead emphasizing economic development plans
for a region potentially rich in oil and gas and inviting foreign
investors.
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"If it will be our neighbors the Japanese that's not bad. If it will
be Korean or Chinese friends, that's also not bad," he said.
"Whoever comes first will get benefits."
Russia ordered a quicker build up of military facilities in the
disputed islands in June, following comments by Putin in April that
he was ready to discuss the issue, while blaming Japan for a lack of
dialogue.
On Saturday, Russia also published a government resolution affirming
the country's claim to the sea bed and natural resources in the
central part of the Okhotsk Sea, which is between the Kuriles and
the Russian mainland, adding more than 50,000 square km (19,305
square miles) to Russia's territory.
The resolution said the claim had been approved by a United Nations
commission last year and followed consultations with Japan.
(Reporting by Osamu Tsukimori in Tokyo and Denis Dyomkin in Iturup;
additional reporting by Jason Bush in Moscow; editing by David
Clarke)
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