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Kelp harvesting season begins in Hokkaido

Harvested kelp is unloaded from a fishing vessel at a port in Nemuro on Japan's northernmost main island of Hokkaido on June 1, 2026. Japanese fishing vessels started harvesting the seaweed the same day in waters around Kaigara Island of the Russian-held Habomai islet group off Nemuro Peninsula as this year's harvesting season began.

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Kelp harvesting season begins in Hokkaido

Japanese fishing vessels harvest kelp in waters around Kaigara Island of the Russian-held Habomai islet group off Nemuro Peninsula in Nemuro on Japan's northernmost main island of Hokkaido on June 1, 2026. The vessels started harvesting the seaweed in the waters the same day as this year's harvesting season began.

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Kelp harvesting season begins in Hokkaido

Fishing industry officials wave to vessels as they depart from a port in Nemuro on Japan's northernmost main island of Hokkaido on June 1, 2026, to harvest kelp in waters around Kaigara Island of the Russian-held Habomai islet group off Nemuro Peninsula. Japanese fishing vessels started harvesting the seaweed in the waters the same day as this year's harvesting season began.

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Kelp harvesting season

Japanese fishing vessels depart from a port in Nemuro on Japan's northernmost main island of Hokkaido on June 15, 2024, heading to waters around Kaigara Island of the Russian-held Habomai islet group as this year's kelp harvesting season begins.

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Kelp harvesting season begins in Hokkaido

Harvested kelp is unloaded from a fishing vessel at a port in Nemuro on Japan's northernmost main island of Hokkaido on June 15, 2024. Japanese fishing vessels started harvesting the seaweed the same day in waters around Kaigara Island of the Russian-held Habomai islet group as this year's harvesting season began.

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Hashimoto flies by islands in Japan-Russia territorial row

CAPE NOSAPPU, Japan - Photo shows Ryutaro Hashimoto, state minister on issues pertaining to the Northern Territories, taking pictures of the Habomai group of isles, one of four Russian-held islands off Hokkaido that Japan claims, at Cape Nossapu on Feb. 17. He took an aerial observation tour of the islands. Boarding a helicopter at Nakashibetsu airport in eastern Hokkaido, Hashimoto saw them from Japanese airspace.

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Initial return of Shikotan, Habomai only solution: envoy

TOKYO, Japan - Japanese Ambassador to Russia Minoru Tamba speaks in an interview with Kyodo News on Feb. 16. Tamba said that the initial return to Japan of Shikotan Island and the Habomai islet group of all the Russian-held islands is the only way to solve the decades-old territorial dispute, which has prevented the two sides signing a peace treaty.

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3,000 pledge more efforts for return of Russian-held islands

NEMURO, Japan - About 3,000 people from 129 organizations from across Japan shout in Russian ''Return the four islands to Japan'' in a rally held in Nemuro, eastern Hokkaido, on Oct. 1. The rally is the largest ever staged by groups working for the return of four Russian-held islands off Hokkaido -- Etorofu, Kunashiri and Shikotan islands and the Habomai group of islets.

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Russia ready to release all 20 Japanese fishermen

NEMURO, Japan - Russia tells Japan on Sept. 1 it will release all 20 crew members of three Japanese fishing boats seized Aug. 27 near the Russian-held, disputed Habomai group of islets east of Hokkaido, Japan. But it said the captains and the boats will be kept in custody ''for a while'' because of the ongoing investigation. Photo shows the fishing boats being towed on Aug. 28 at Yuzhno-Kurilsk, known as Furukamappu in Japan, on Kunashiri Island, another Russian-held island claimed by Japan.

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Ex-islanders call for early return of islands off Hokkaido during rally in Tokyo

Japanese former residents of Russian-held islands off Hokkaido and local municipal government officials appeal for their early return to Japan during a march in Tokyo's Ginza area on Dec. 1, 2022. The islands of Etorofu, Kunashiri, Shikotan and the Habomai islet group were seized by the Soviet Union after Japan surrendered in World War II in August 1945.

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Ex-islanders call for early return of islands off Hokkaido during rally in Tokyo

Japanese former residents of Russian-held islands off Hokkaido and local municipal government officials appeal for their early return to Japan during a meeting in Tokyo's Hibiya Park on Dec. 1, 2022. The islands of Etorofu, Kunashiri, Shikotan and the Habomai islet group were seized by the Soviet Union after Japan surrendered in World War II in August 1945.

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Ex-islanders call for early return of islands off Hokkaido during rally in Tokyo

Japanese former residents of Russian-held islands off Hokkaido and local municipal government officials appeal for their early return to Japan during a march in Tokyo's Ginza area on Dec. 1, 2022. The islands of Etorofu, Kunashiri, Shikotan and the Habomai islet group were seized by the Soviet Union after Japan surrendered in World War II in August 1945.

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Kelp harvesting season

Kelp is unloaded from a fishing boat in Nemuro in Japan's northernmost main island of Hokkaido on June 22, 2022. Over 200 Japanese fishing vessels started harvesting the seaweed in waters around Kaigara Island, a part of the Russian-held, Japan-claimed Habomai islet group, as this year's harvesting season started.

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Kelp harvesting season

Kelp is unloaded from a fishing boat in Nemuro in Japan's northernmost main island of Hokkaido on June 22, 2022. Over 200 Japanese fishing vessels started harvesting the seaweed in waters around Kaigara Island, a part of the Russian-held, Japan-claimed Habomai islet group, as this year's harvesting season started.

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Kelp harvesting season

NEMURO, Japan Kyodo - Harvested kelp is unloaded from a fishing boat in Nemuro in Japan's northernmost main island of Hokkaido on June 2, 2021. Over 200 Japanese fishing vessels started harvesting the seaweed in waters around Kaigara Island of the Russian-held Habomai islet group as this year's harvesting season started.

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PM Abe eyes progress in territorial dispute with Russia

File photo taken January 2013 shows the Habomai group of islets (above), off Japan's Cape Nosappu (below), which are claimed by Japan, along with three other Russian-held islands. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe aims to arrange mutual visits between the two countries with Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2016, with the aim of resolving the long-standing bilateral territorial dispute. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

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Ex-residents of islands meet press after Japan-Russia talks

Hirotoshi Kawata (R), deputy director of the League of Residents of Chishima and Habomai Islands, attend a press conference with Yasuji Tsunoka, also from the organization, in Nemuro in the northernmost Japanese prefecture on Sept. 29, 2015, in response to the bilateral talks between Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Russian President Vladimir Putin. The organization comprises former residents on Russian-held islands off Hokkaido which are also claimed by Japan. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

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People see off fishing boats leaving for kelp harvesting near north isle

People wave flags to fishermen leaving a port in Nemuro on Japan's northernmost main island of Hokkaido for kelp harvesting in waters around Kaigara-jima island on June 1, 2015, at the start of the hunting season for the seaweed. A seasonal ban on kelp collection off the island, which belongs to the Russian-held Habomai group of islets claimed by Japan, was lifted earlier in the day. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

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Kelp from waters off northern islet laid out for drying in Nemuro

Workers lay out kelp to dry in the sun on June 1, 2015, in Nemuro on Japan's northernmost main island of Hokkaido at the start of the harvesting season for the seaweed in waters around Kaigara-jima island. A seasonal ban on kelp collection off the island, which belongs to the Russian-held Habomai group of islets claimed by Japan, was lifted earlier in the day. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

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Kelp-harvesting boats, lighthouse loom off Hokkaido under morning sun

Kelp-harvesting boats and a lighthouse on Kaigara-jima island off the northernmost main island of Hokkaido loom under the morning sun on June 1, 2015, at the start of the harvesting season for the seaweed. A seasonal ban on kelp collection off the island, which belongs to the Russian-held Habomai group of islets claimed by Japan, was lifted earlier in the day. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

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Japanese fishing boats sail for kelp harvesting near northern islet

Japanese fishing boats sail to a kelp-harvesting area around Kaigara-jima island off the northernmost main island of Hokkaido on June 1, 2015, at the start of the hunting season for the seaweed. A seasonal ban on kelp collection off the island, which belongs to the Russian-held Habomai group of islets claimed by Japan, was lifted earlier in the day. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

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Abe, Putin to launch talks on joint activities on disputed isles

A fishing boat (L) and a Japan Coast Guard patrol vessel sail off Nemuro in Japan's northernmost main island Hokkaido on Dec. 16, 2016, with Suisho Island, part of the Habomai group, visible in the background. Japan and Russia agreed the same day to launch talks on joint economic activities on Russian-held islands, including the Habomai group, at the center of a territorial dispute, as Japan seeks to resolve the row and sign a post-World War II peace treaty with Russia. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

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Kelp harvesting season

Harvested kelp is unloaded from a fishing boat in Nemuro in Japan's northernmost main island of Hokkaido on June 2, 2021. Over 200 Japanese fishing vessels started harvesting the seaweed in waters around Kaigara Island of the Russian-held Habomai islet group as this year's harvesting season started.

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Kelp harvesting season

People wave from Cape Nosappu in Nemuro in Japan's northernmost main island of Hokkaido as fishing boats head to waters around Kaigara Island of the Russian-held Habomai islet group to harvest kelp on June 2, 2021, following the start of this year's harvesting season for the seaweed.

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Kelp harvesting season

Harvested kelp is unloaded from a fishing boat in Nemuro in Japan's northernmost main island of Hokkaido on June 2, 2021. Over 200 Japanese fishing vessels started harvesting the seaweed in waters around Kaigara Island of the Russian-held Habomai islet group as this year's harvesting season started.

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Minister Kono observes Habomai islet chain

Taro Kono, Japanese minister in charge of Okinawa and Northern Territories affairs, observes Russian-held Habomai islet chain by telescope from Hokkaido's Nemuro on Sept. 27, 2020. Kono took the ministerial post earlier in the month.

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Disputed Russian-held islands off Hokkaido

Photo taken Jan. 30, 2019, from a Kyodo News airplane shows Russian-held, Japanese-claimed islands off Japan's northernmost main island of Hokkaido. At the bottom is Cape Nosappu in Hokkaido, and in the center is the Habomai islet group. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

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Disputed Russian-held islands off Hokkaido

Photo taken Jan. 30, 2019, from a Kyodo News airplane shows Russian-held, Japanese-claimed islands off Japan's northernmost main island of Hokkaido. Seen in the center is the Habomai islet group, with Shikotan above. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

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Habomai islet group

File photo taken in December 2016 shows the Russian-held, Japan-claimed Habomai islet group off Japan's northernmost main island of Hokkaido. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

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Abe, Putin to launch talks on joint activities on disputed isles

Suisho Island, part of the Habomai group, is seen on Dec. 16, 2016, from Nemuro on Japan's northernmost main island Hokkaido. Japan and Russia agreed the same day to launch talks on joint economic activities on the four Russian-held, Japan-claimed islands, including the Habomai group, as Japan seeks to resolve the territorial row and sign a post-World War II peace treaty with Russia. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

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Japan, Russian leaders expected to discuss territorial row

Photo taken Dec. 3, 2016, from a Kyodo News airplane shows Habomai islet group, one of four Russian-held, Japan-claimed islands off Japan's northernmost main island Hokkaido. The decades-old territorial row will be on high agenda when Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe holds a summit meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Japan in mid-December. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

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Japan, Russian leaders expected to discuss territorial row

Photo taken Dec. 3, 2016, from a Kyodo News airplane shows Habomai islet group, one of four Russian-held, Japan-claimed islands off Japan's northernmost main island Hokkaido. The decades-old territorial row will be on high agenda when Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe holds a summit meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Japan in mid-December. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

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Hashimoto flies by islands in Japan-Russia territorial row

CAPE NOSAPPU, Japan - Photo shows Ryutaro Hashimoto, state minister on issues pertaining to the Northern Territories, taking pictures of the Habomai group of isles, one of four Russian-held islands off Hokkaido that Japan claims, at Cape Nossapu on Feb. 17. He took an aerial observation tour of the islands. Boarding a helicopter at Nakashibetsu airport in eastern Hokkaido, Hashimoto saw them from Japanese airspace.

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Initial return of Shikotan, Habomai only solution: envoy

TOKYO, Japan - Japanese Ambassador to Russia Minoru Tamba speaks in an interview with Kyodo News on Feb. 16. Tamba said that the initial return to Japan of Shikotan Island and the Habomai islet group of all the Russian-held islands is the only way to solve the decades-old territorial dispute, which has prevented the two sides signing a peace treaty.

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3,000 pledge more efforts for return of Russian-held islands

NEMURO, Japan - About 3,000 people from 129 organizations from across Japan shout in Russian ''Return the four islands to Japan'' in a rally held in Nemuro, eastern Hokkaido, on Oct. 1. The rally is the largest ever staged by groups working for the return of four Russian-held islands off Hokkaido -- Etorofu, Kunashiri and Shikotan islands and the Habomai group of islets.

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Russia ready to release all 20 Japanese fishermen

NEMURO, Japan - Russia tells Japan on Sept. 1 it will release all 20 crew members of three Japanese fishing boats seized Aug. 27 near the Russian-held, disputed Habomai group of islets east of Hokkaido, Japan. But it said the captains and the boats will be kept in custody ''for a while'' because of the ongoing investigation. Photo shows the fishing boats being towed on Aug. 28 at Yuzhno-Kurilsk, known as Furukamappu in Japan, on Kunashiri Island, another Russian-held island claimed by Japan.