According to the NHK broadcaster, the demonstrators were mostly former Japanese residents of the disputed islands of Kunashir, Iturup, Shikotan and Habomai.
The demonstration was attended by Mitsuhiro Miyakoshi, state minister in charge of Okinawa and Northern Territories, as the Japanese call Kuril Islands.
"I will do my best to convey to the global community the unanimous primary position of our country on solving the problem of the Northern Territories and concluding a peace treaty," the minister told the broadcaster.
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The march was timed to the anniversary of the beginning of the movement for the "return" of the four islands to Japan on December 1, 1945.
今日12月1日は北方領土返還を要求する中央アピール行動が開始されて13回目の日です。日本橋から京橋まで、デモ行進しました。根室市の石垣市長、千島連盟の脇理事長、高橋はるみ北海道知事、副知事、隣接地域の町長さんや、国会議員が行進しました。#北海道 #北方領土返還 pic.twitter.com/rqwNIawVvQ
— 紙 智子 (@KamiTomoko) 1 декабря 2018 г.
The islands dispute has been souring relations between the two countries for decades and serves as the main stumbling block to signing a permanent peace treaty after the end of World War II. Both countries claim a group of four islands — Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan and Habomai — referred to as the Southern Kurils by Russia and the Northern Territories by Japan.
