Overview of the support program

Support is provided for training and exchange meetings for former islanders whose bases for living were in the Northern Regions, and the irredentist movement, activities to foster successors, the collection and preservation of materials related to the four northern islands before the war, and free visits to the four northern islands, which are conducted by the League of Residents of Chishima and Habomai Islands.

1. Training and exchange meetings for former residents of the Northern Regions

The training and exchange meeting for former residents of the Northern Regions is held to deepen the understanding of the importance of the role played by former islanders in the Campaign for the Return of the Northern Territories nationwide and to further strengthen the solidarity of former islanders.

2. Support for the irredentist movement, successor activities, and collections of materials by former islanders

Support is provided to the following: the irredentist movement (for street-level enlightenment activities, panel exhibitions, workshops) throughout the country, the fostering of successors to activities of former islanders, activities for the strengthening of organizational cooperation (seminars and workshops), various surveys on cemeteries and settlements on the four northern islands, and the collection and preservation of former islanders’ valuable materials and testimonies related to the Northern Territories, such as the situation of pre-war life and the status of repatriation, which are conducted by the League of Residents of Chishima and Habomai Islands, an organization composed of former islanders.

Photo courtesy of the League of Residents of Chishima and Habomai Islands

3. Support for free visits

Free visits are a highly simplified four-island visit program for former islanders and their families (spouses, children and grandchildren of former islanders, and spouses of children and grandchildren of former islanders) on humanitarian grounds and as part of environmental improvement for the resolution of the territorial issue.
The visits have been held every year since 1999, based on the agreement of the Moscow Declaration signed at the Japan-Russia Summit in Moscow in 1998. Support is provided for free visits implemented by the League of Residents of Chishima and Habomai Islands, an organization composed of former islanders.

Photo courtesy of the League of Residents of Chishima and Habomai Islands