Suga Delivers 'northern Territories Day' Message
Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide says he will continue to negotiate with Russia, based on the agreements that have been reached to date, to settle the territorial issue of four Russian-held islands claimed by Japan.
Suga sent a video message on Sunday to an annual national rally to demand the return of the four islands. Suga said it is regrettable that the issue has not been settled and a peace treaty with Russia has not been concluded 75 years after World War Two ended.
The event was held on Northern Territories Day -- the day a Japan-Russia treaty, recognizing the islands as belonging to Japan, was signed on February 7, 1855.
Japan maintains the islands are an inherent part of the country's territory. It says they were illegally occupied after World War Two.
Suga told the rally that he agreed with Russian President Vladimir Putin in phone talks after the prime minister took office in September that they should continue dialogue on issues that include the signing of a peace treaty.
Suga said his administration has inherited the exchanges his predecessor Abe Shinzo had with Putin in a summit in Singapore in 2018.
Suga also said he will work towards the early resumption of exchange programs, including visa-free trips to the islands by former islanders and their families to visit ancestors' graves. The visits were suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic.