YUZHNO-SAKHALINSK (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 04th December, 2019) SAKHALINSK, Russia, December 4 (Sputnik) - The authorities of Russia and Japan, together with private companies plan to discuss future trips of Japanese tourists to the Kuril Islands on Thursday, Sakhalin Region Tourism Agency head Natalya Pakholkova told Sputnik.
"Today we had the first meeting with the Japanese air carrier, and today our governor will meet the new consul general of Japan in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, while tomorrow we will have a meeting under the aegis of the Russian Tourism Agency here, at the forum, on this issue ... We will discuss future tours," Pakholkova said on the sidelines of the Eastern Russia Tourism Week, which is held from December 2-8 on Sakhalin.
She added that there was no clarity on when the next tour would take place yet.
The relations between Moscow and Tokyo 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 islands and regards them as part of its Sakhalin region, but they are also claimed by Japan.
A pilot trip of Japanese tourists to the islands of Kunashir and Iturup took place in late October as part of the ongoing joint economic activities on the four islands.
