By TOMOYUKI YAMAMOTO/ Staff Writer
August 28, 2023 at 12:37 JST
Fishermen are lured to kelp grounds near the lighthouse on Kaigarajima island in 2019. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)
NEMURO, Hokkaido--A lighthouse on Kaigarajima island, part of the disputed Northern Territories, has been lit for the first time in about nine years, the Japan Coast Guard confirmed on Aug. 26.
A patrol boat sailing off Cape Nosappu in Nemuro saw a whitish light emanating from the lighthouse after sunset on Aug. 26, although the structure was not clearly visible due to fog at sea, the coast guard said.
Kaigarajima island belongs to the Habomai group of islets off the coast of eastern Hokkaido.
Soviet forces seized the Northern Territories at the end of World War II. Japan claims sovereignty over the islands, but they are controlled by Russia, including Kaigarajima island.
“It is unclear what the Russian side intends to do, including with the lighting of the lighthouse this time,” an official of the Nemuro Coast Guard Office said.
In August this year, it was confirmed that a Russian flag and a cross-like object had been hoisted over the lighthouse, and that the outer wall had been painted white.
The lighthouse had been turned off in November 2014.
Japan installed the lighthouse in 1937 for the safety of navigation in the area marked by fast currents and reefs.
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