By TOMOYUKI YAMAMOTO
August 29, 2023 at 17:42 JST
Memorial service participants aboard the Etopirika in Nemuro, Hokkaido, on Aug. 28 (Tomoyuki Yamamoto)
NEMURO, Hokkaido—Former residents of the Northern Territories commemorated their ancestors at sea while visits to the four Russian-held islands off Hokkaido remain in limbo following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
Sixty-eight people, mainly former islanders and their family members, left Nemuro Port aboard the Etopirika (tufted puffin) and offered prayers off the Habomai group of islets that were shrouded in fog on Aug. 28.
“We were able to talk a lot about the Northern Territories on the ship,” said Yuzo Matsumoto, 82, director of the League of Residents of Chishima and Habomai Islands, a group of former islanders. “We need to have more opportunities like this.”
Exchange activities have been annually organized between Japan and the Northern Territories—the islands of Kunashiri, Etorofu, Shikotan and Habomai--that were seized by the Soviet Union in the closing days of World War II.
But Japan suspended visits by former islanders to the graves of their ancestors and relatives on the islands after Russia invaded Ukraine last year.
Moscow called off other activities, such as visa-free mutual visits.
“We are in a challenging environment, but we ask the government to strive to first resume grave visits, among other exchanges,” Matsumoto said.
The offshore memorial service was organized by Matsumoto’s group, the Northern Territories Issue Association and the government of Hokkaido.
Two more services will be held off the Habomai islets on Sept. 2 and 7, while services off Kunashiri island are scheduled on Sept. 14, 21 and 30.
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