Some 570 participants in the latest cruise run by the nongovernmental organization Peace Boat departed here Thursday on a voyage that will take in Kunashiri Island, snubbing a Foreign Ministry request to stay away from the disputed Russian-held territory.
With permission from the Sakhalin provincial government, tour participants will make a special visa-free trip to Kunashiri, which is controlled by Russia but claimed by Japan, after visiting North Korea, South Korea and Sakhalin, Peace Boat officials said.
Cruise participants will stay at a Japan-funded facility on Kunashiri dubbed "Muneo House," which entered the limelight in connection with Foreign Ministry-meddling and bidding scandals involving lawmaker Muneo Suzuki, who has been arrested and charged with bribery. They will also visit a Japan-funded diesel power plant that likewise has dubious links to Suzuki.
In 1991, the NGO sponsored a goodwill cruise to Kunashiri and Shikotan islands with 116 passengers under a similar visa-free arrangement. The latest voyage will bring the largest number of Japanese to the disputed island at one time since the end of World War II.