Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Thursday said he will seek an alternative to a visa-free visit program to the Russia-controlled, Japan-claimed islands off Hokkaido, as it remains stalled since Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.
Kishida made the remarks when he met with Hokkaido Gov. Naomichi Suzuki and a group of former residents of the islands, who called for the program's resumption.
"We need to consider a different program," Kishida said during a meeting with them in his office. "The government intends to take necessary measures while listening to the thoughts of former residents of the islands."
They also asked the government to allow them to continue with memorial services for their ancestors on the sea near the islands, which are called Northern Territories in Japan and Southern Kurils in Russia.
The visa-free program has long been allowed through a special arrangement between the two countries, but before the invasion it was canceled in the previous two years due to the coronavirus pandemic.
In March, Russia announced the program will be stopped along with its decision to halt negotiations on signing a postwar peace treaty with Japan.
The moves followed Japan's imposing sanctions against Russia in step with the United States and Europe over Moscow's war on Ukraine.
Japan said the following month it will forgo the program for fiscal 2022 as the war continues.
Japan claims the Soviet Union illegally seized the four islands — Kunashiri, Etorofu, Shikotan and the Habomai group of islets — soon after its surrender in World War II in August 1945, while Moscow argues the move was legitimate.
The decades-long territorial issue has prevented the two countries from concluding a peace treaty.
During a news conference Thursday, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said the government's policy to resolve the issue and sign a peace treaty with Russia remains unchanged.