With a settlement over the sovereignty of a group of Japan-claimed islands off Hokkaido under Russian control —after nearly three-quarters of a century—nowhere in sight, some Japanese visitors to the area said they have almost given up hope of seeing the territories returned.
As a Kyodo News reporter, I accompanied a group of former residents of Kunashiri and Shikotan islands, along with some of their relatives, on a visit to the territory in late August under a bilateral visa-free exchange program, and witnessed progress in development by Moscow on the Far East islands.
The two islands, as well as Etorofu and the Habomai islet group, are together called the Northern Territories by Japan and the Southern Kurils by Russia. They were seized by the Soviet Union after Japan surrendered in World War II in August 1945.