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June 30, 2026
 

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NORTHERN TERRITORIES

Former residents of the Northern Territories join hands aboard the exchange ship Etopirika, in July last year.
JAPAN
Jun 6, 2026
Ex-residents to hold memorial services near Japan-claimed isles
Former residents of Russian-held northwestern Pacific islands claimed by Japan will hold memorial services for their ancestors at sea and in the air between July 25 and Nov. 7, the prefectural government of Hokkaido said Friday.
Students from Okinawa Prefecture speak with Hiroshi Tokuno (left) at an exchange center for the Northern Territories issue in Nemuro, Hokkaido, on Dec. 27.
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Okinawa
Mar 2, 2026
Okinawa students visit Hokkaido to learn about disputed islands
Over 80 years after Soviet forces seized four islands from Japan, former Japanese residents remain unable to return to their hometowns.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Friday that Russia's relations with Japan "have ‌been reduced to zero" over what he cast as Tokyo's "unfriendly stance" toward Moscow.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 21, 2026
Russia says no peace dialogue ongoing with Japan over territorial dispute
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Russia’s relations with Japan “have ‌been reduced to zero” due to its “unfriendly stance” toward Moscow.
An annual national rally to demand the return of Russian-held islands off Hokkaido claimed by Japan, called the Northern Territories, is held in Tokyo on Saturday.
JAPAN
Feb 8, 2026
Japan to continue push for restart of visits to Northern Territories
The visits, which allowed former residents to visit the graves of their ancestors on the Russian-held island, were halted for reasons including Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi receives a petition regarding the Northern Territories from Hokkaido Gov. Naomichi Suzuki (fourth from left) and Nemuro City Mayor Masatoshi Ishigaki (far left) at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 2, 2025
Takaichi vows to resume grave visits to northern islands by ex-residents
Grave visits by former residents had been suspended following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which started in February 2022.
Russia's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 31, 2025
Russia says peace talks with Japan only possible if Tokyo abandons ‘anti-Russian course’
Soviet troops took control of four islands off Hokkaido at the end of World War II.
Kunashiri, one of the four islands seized by Russia in the last days of World War II, is visible from the Shiretoko Peninsula in northeastern Hokkaido.
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Hokkaido
Jul 22, 2025
Ex-residents of Russian-controlled islands off Hokkaido want grave-site visits resumed
Now in their advanced years, the former residents want the visits to be restored for them to honor their ancestors whose grave sites are located on the four islands.
Former residents of Russian-held islands claimed by Japan hold a memorial service aboard the exchange ship Etopirika, which arrived off Kunashiri, part of the Northern Territories, on Sunday.
JAPAN
Jul 21, 2025
Ex-residents of Japan-claimed isles hold memorial at sea
Former Japanese residents of the Russian-held islands cannot return to their hometowns because exchange programs between the two countries have been suspended.
A view of Kunashir — known as Kunashiri in Japanese — one a group of Russian-controlled islands off Hokkaido that are claimed by Japan
JAPAN
Jun 18, 2025
Memorial services at sea to be held off disputed islands
Two of the five events will involve an overnight stay on a ship, with participants offering prayers toward part of Kunashiri Island.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi speaks at a news conference in Tokyo on Wednesday.
JAPAN
May 15, 2025
Russia to conduct drill in waters near disputed island off Hokkaido
The Japanese government has lodged a protest with Russia over the planned drills near Shikotan.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks in a video message shown at a national rally demanding the return of the Northern Territories held in Tokyo in February.
JAPAN
Apr 7, 2025
Russia bans Japanese NGO amid disputed islands row
The four islands were captured by the Soviet military during the final months of the war, and have been held by Moscow since, in what Tokyo describes as an “illegal occupation.”
Concept art for the renewed National Museum of Territory and Sovereignty
JAPAN
Mar 10, 2025
Japan’s territory museum to reopen in April following renovations
The museum in Tokyo’s Chiyoda Ward is designed to publicize Japan’s position on disputed territories.
Takako Yamashita, a descendant of a former Japanese resident of the Russian-controlled islands called the Northern Territories, seeks to preserve memories of life on the isles through the creation of pictorial maps.
JAPAN
Aug 21, 2024
Memories of Russian-held isles preserved through pictorial maps
The maps feature the names of residents on each house and colorful illustrations of flora and fauna, as well as scenes from daily life.
Upper House lawmaker Muneo Suzuki speaks to reporters in Moscow on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 30, 2024
Pro-Moscow lawmaker Muneo Suzuki visits Russia again
The Upper House member defied the central government by flying to Moscow for talks with senior Russian officials.
Members of the State Duma, the lower house of Russian parliament, attend a plenary session in Moscow on July 10.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 24, 2024
Russian MPs vote to broaden ‘undesirable organizations’ law
One of the bill’s authors said that British, German and Japanese organizations could fall under the new legislation.
German and Japanese fighter jets take part in an exercise over Japan in September 2022.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 29, 2024
Russia protests to Japan about joint exercises with NATO countries
Moscow accused Prime Minister Fumio Kishida of placing his country “on a path to dangerous escalation” in response to the planned exercises with Germany and Spain.
A sign erected in Hokkaido’s port of Nemuro calls for the return of the Russian-occupied islands that Japan calls the Northern Territories.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 13, 2024
Geopolitical chess: Unpacking the Northern Territories conundrum
While domestic motivation for Tokyo to resolve the Northern Territories dispute may endure, the opposite is true in Moscow.
JAPAN
Feb 7, 2024
Kishida vows to conclude peace pact with Russia
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Wednesday vowed to conclude a peace treaty with Russia after resolving a territorial row over four northwestern Pacific islands, called the Northern Territories in Japan.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 10, 2023
Hokkaido lawmaker leaves Nippon Ishin over visit to Russia
Calls from within the party to punish Suzuki had been growing, especially after he told Russian media he was sure Moscow would win its war with Ukraine.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 3, 2023
Russia’s Medvedev: Japan’s ‘militarization’ complicates Asia-Pacific
Relations between Russia and Japan have been marked by a territorial disputes over a handful of small islands off Hokkaido.
Uruguay federation reportedly cancels charter flight after World Cup exit
Uruguay's Jose Maria Gimenez reacts after the team's loss against Spain at the 2026 FIFA World Cup on Friday.
Inside Japan’s rigid adoption system, a British family finds a way
James Benstead, his wife, Jesse, and their three children. Their adopted son is in the rear stroller.
India’s gig workers pay the price for exposure to New Delhi’s hazardous air
Rohit Kushwaha waits for a customer as he delivers his last parcel of the day, in New Delhi in January. His work as a delivery driver has helped pay the family’s bills, but has had a significant impact on his health.
Chinese and Russian bombers and fighter jets stage joint patrol near Japan
A Chinese Air Force H-6 bomber is seen during a joint patrol with Russian military aircraft on Saturday.
U.S. missile moves in Japan send China clear message: A new era has arrived
Soldiers conduct the first Typhon midrange capability live-fire exercise outside of the continental United States, firing an SM-6 missile in July last year in Australia's Northern Territory during Exercise Talisman Sabre.
Japan’s fertility system offers few safe paths for same-sex couples
A Tokyo Pride parade participant holds a sign that says "we want to be a married couple, not a couple."
Inside Japan’s rigid adoption system, a British family finds a way
James Benstead, his wife, Jesse, and their three children. Their adopted son is in the rear stroller.
A French ship with close ties to Japan combines arts and sciences on the high seas
Romain Troublé, the executive director of Tara Ocean Foundation, speaks to visitors aboard the Tara during a rare port call in Tokyo in April.
In Kyushu’s far south, Senti.U sparks a culinary destination
Chef Yasuhiko Uchida was born in Saga Prefecture but has made his home in Kanoya, Kagoshima Prefecture, since 2012.
‘The colors speak for themselves’: How Japan’s chroma bible went global
“A Dictionary of Color Combinations” is meant to function as a quick-reference guide for artists, designers and anyone with a passing interest in aesthetics as a quantifiable pursuit.

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