Support The Moscow Times!

Between Russia and Japan: Life on the Kuril Islands

Foreign and defense ministers from Japan and Russia met in Tokyo on Monday, with both sides expressing hopes that discussions on joint development of the islands claimed by both countries might help them move closer to resolving the territorial dispute preventing them from forging a peace treaty.

The Moscow Times takes a look at life on the disputed island chain known to Russians as the Southern Kurils, but referred to in Japan as the Northern Territories.