First group of Japanese leaves for visa-free visit to S Kuriles

TOKYO, May 14 (Itar-Tass) -- The first in the current year group of
Japanese has left for South Kuriles within the framework of the programme
of visa-free exchanges which is in force between Russia and Japan.
A ship with 46 Japanese citizens on board left the port of Nemuro
(Hokkaido) in the direction of Kunashir on Saturday morning. During the
trip, the delegation members will visit the graves of their ancestors and
museums, as well as hold meetings with local residents.
This is the first visa-free trip of a group of Japanese to Kuriles
after the visit of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to Kunashir in
November 2010 which caused negative reaction of Tokyo officials.
The visa-free exchange between residents of Russia's South Kuriles and
Japan is carried out since 1992 on the basis of an intergovernmental
agreement to improve mutual understanding of the two countries' peoples
and solve issues of concluding the peace treaty between Russia and Japan.
Trips are made according the national passport with a special loose leaf
without visas. During this time, more than 18,000 Japanese visited Kurile
Islands and over 8,000 Kurile residents visited Japan.
Before the end of the year, nine Japanese delegations will visit
Kuriles and seven Kurile groups plan to visit Hokkaido and Japan's ancient
capital Kyoto.