On the 7th, Northern Territories Day, former island residents gathered in Rausu Town, Hokkaido, and appealed for the early return of the Northern Territories as the sun rose from the direction of Kunashir Island.
Northern Territories Day commemorates the treaty signed between Japan and Russia on February 7, 1855, making the four northern islands part of Japan's territory. has been established.
In the town of Rausu, where many former islanders live, on the morning of the 7th, about 30 people gathered at a facility overlooking Kunashiri Island on the opposite shore.
Then, at the time of sunrise at 6:30 a.m., he turned toward Kunashir Island, where the sun would rise in the morning, and shouted, ``Give us back the Northern Territories!'' and ``Let's resume visiting northern graves as soon as possible!''
Next, local people performed poems about their feelings towards the Northern Territories, and former island residents reflected on their hometowns.
Kimio Waki (83) from Kunashir Island said, ``I want the government to resume negotiations regarding the Northern Territories as soon as possible.''
A woman whose mother was from Kunashiri Island and who attended from Sapporo said, ``It was an opportunity for me to look back and think about what her mother must have been like.''
Former island residents designated as Russia's "undesirable organization"
Regarding the Northern Territories, the Russian Ministry of Justice announced on the 6th that it has designated a Japanese organization that continues to campaign for the return of the Northern Territories as an "undesirable organization," effectively banning its activities in Russia, and establishing a secretariat in Sapporo. The ``Northern Territories Return Formation Alliance'' may have been designated as this.
Regarding this, Kimio Waki, a native of Kunashir Island, took a calm view and said, ``I don't think there is any need for us to get excited or sad because it is a one-sided story from Russia.As a former island resident, what we hope for and what we are working on will not change.'' I was there.
Keiko Omori, whose mother is from Kunashir Island, said, ``It's a country with different ways of thinking than Japan, so we can't think about it together, but my desire for the island to be returned to Japan as it is the island where my ancestors were born and raised will never change.'' We were talking.