Memorial at Sea Starts for Late Residents of Russia-Held Isles

Tokyo, July 27 (Jiji Press)–Japan has started this year’s services allowing former Japanese residents of Russian-controlled northwestern Pacific islands to pay tribute to their ancestors from the sea. At a ceremony held Saturday afternoon on the Etopirika ship, which arrived off Kunashiri, one of the islands, a total of 47 people, including former residents and their relatives, prayed for the souls of their ancestors. Such a memorial service took place at sea for the fifth straight year because former residents have been unable to visit their family graves on the disputed islands due to the suspension of a Japan-Russia exchange program related to the islands, known in Japan as the Northern Territories, following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The Etopirika is intended for use for the program. “It is extremely regrettable that we remain unable to visit our home islands,” Yuzo Matsumoto, 85, who heads an association of former residents, said at the ceremony, showing hopes that he and others will be able again to make grave visits as soon as possible. He is from Etorofu, also part of the islands. “I can’t land on the Northern Territories because they were taken by Russia, but I will do my best to pass on my grandfather’s thoughts to the future,” said 12-year-old Tomoki Kimura, an elementary school sixth grader from Tokyo. His grandfather lived on one of the Habomai group of islands, part of the Northern Territories. Five more rounds of memorial service from the sea are planned to be held by early September. In addition, there is a plan for former residents to pay respect to their ancestors aboard an aircraft, to reduce the physical burden of elderly participants. The islands were seized by the former Soviet Union from Japan at the end of World War II and have long been claimed by Japan. The territorial dispute has prevented Tokyo and Moscow from concluding a peace treaty to formally end their wartime hostilities. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]