Japan PM Takaichi to push Russia to restart visits to graves on disputed islands

TOKYO – Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi vowed on Feb 7 to call on Russia to allow former Japanese residents to visit disputed islands off Hokkaido to pay respects at gravesites, calling the issue “one of the top priorities” in bilateral ties that remain strained over Moscow’s war against Ukraine.

At a rally in Tokyo to shore up public support for the return of the islands, long at the centre of a territorial row that has prevented Japan and Russia from concluding a postwar peace treaty, Ms Takaichi said visits to graves by ageing former islanders is a “humanitarian issue”.

“We will persist in calling on the Russian side” to resolve the matter, she said.

Japan maintains that the Northern Territories, consisting of Etorofu, Kunashiri, Shikotan and the Habomai islet group, were illegally seized by the Soviet Union soon after Japan’s surrender in World War II on Aug 15, 1945. Russia, which calls them the Southern Kurils, argues the seizure was legitimate.

Prospects are dim for restarting talks on signing a post-World War II peace treaty, with no signs of an improvement in bilateral ties following the launch of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Japan joined the United States and other countries in imposing sanctions to hit Moscow’s war chest.

The gathering on Feb 7 adopted a statement saying the “illegal occupation” has continued for around 80 years and expressing “strong anger” that the islands have not been returned.

Attended by former residents of the islands and government officials, the event to mark “Northern Territories Day” is held every Feb 7.

On that day in 1855, Japan and Russia signed a Treaty of Commerce, Navigation and Delimitation, drawing a national boundary that placed the four islands within Japanese territory. KYODO NEWS