Japanese tours to disputed islets under Russian control begin

Japanese tourists on Wednesday visited Russian-held islands off Hokkaido at the heart of a bilateral territorial dispute as part of trust-building joint economic activities by the Japanese and Russian governments.The five-day trial tour through Sunday by 44 people, including government officials, will take participants to sightseeing spots on Kunashiri and Etorofu. They are among four islands disputed between the two countries, called the Northern Territories in Japan and the Southern Kurils in Russia.Japanese tourism to the islands is set to be the pilot project of the joint economic activ…READ FULL ARTICLE