TOKYO (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 27th October, 2019) The pilot trip of Japanese tourists to the islands of Kunashir and Iturup will take place from October 30 to November 2, the Japanese Foreign Ministry said on Saturday.
The project will be implemented as part of the development of joint economic activities on the South Kuril islands. From October 27 to 29, Japanese tourists will visit the cities of Hokkaido, including Nemuro, Betsukai, Nakashibetsu, Sibetsu and Rausu.
"Then, if weather allows, the group will leave the port of Nemuro on October 29, make a trip to Kunashir on October 30 and 31, to Iturup on November 1 and 2, after which it will return to Nemuro on November 3. In addition to tourists, representatives of government agencies will take part in this tour, a total of 44 people," the ministry said.
The first pilot tour to these islands was planned for October 11, but then was postponed at the initiative of the Russian side.
The agreement on the first pilot tour to Kunashir and Iturup was reached at a meeting of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in June this year in Osaka. This is actually the first project to be implemented as part of the joint economic activities of the two countries on South Kurils.
Russian-Japanese relations have long been complicated by the fact that the two nations have never signed a permanent WWII peace treaty. The main issue holding the two countries back is their dispute over a group of four Kuril islands � Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan and Habomai. Russia has sovereignty over these islets, but they are also claimed by Japan.
In December 2016, during Putin's visit to Japan, the two leaders agreed to search for the possibilities of joint economic activities in the southern Kuril Islands.
Moscow and Tokyo are currently making effort to finalize a permanent peace treaty. Yet, the two sides have not yet overcome their differences. Russia insists that its sovereignty over the Kurils, which legally became a part of the Soviet Union following World War II, is undisputed.
