Ex - Northern Territories Resident Remembers Gorbachev
A former resident of one of the four Russian held islands claimed by Japan, spoke to NHK about Mikhail Gorbachev's role in promoting better ties between the two countries.
Tokuno Hiroshi, 88, was born in Shikotan Island. He now lives in Nemuro City in the northern prefecture of Hokkaido.
The Japanese government maintains the islands are an inherent part of Japan's territory. It says the islands were illegally occupied after World War Two.
The Soviet Union had long maintained the position that there was no territorial issue with Japan.
Gorbachev visited Japan in 1991 and signed the Japanese-Soviet Joint Communique, which stated that the four islands were the subject of a territorial issue that should be resolved by a peace treaty.
At the time, the Soviets proposed a framework for visa-free visits to promote exchanges between Japanese and current island residents. The visa-free visits started in 1992.
Tokuno has taken part in the visa-free exchanges since their implementation 30 years ago.
He said Gorbachev wanted progress on the territorial issue, and that he was a symbol of the hope that post-war issues might improve. He also said Gorbachev was the founding father of the visa-free exchange and an important person to him.
Tokuno said he feels as if a "weight" on the friendship between Japan and Russia has been lost, and that he wanted Gorbachev to live longer to continue to work for the cause.
Russia suspended the visa-free exchanges in March.
Tokuno said he believes Russians on the four islands also want the program to resume. He said he and his colleagues must work hard for its resumption, honoring the will of Gorbachev.