Former residents of Russian-held islands claimed by Japan will hold memorial services for their ancestors at sea and in the air from July 25 to November 7.
The Hokkaido prefectural government announced the plans on Friday. The services are scheduled to occur between July 25 and November 7 this year. They will be conducted at sea and in the air near the northwestern Pacific islands.
An Ainu indigenous group in Hokkaido has filed a lawsuit demanding the return of remains from 279 ancestors held at a state facility.
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The Japanese parliament on Wednesday passed legislation to financially support remote islands near the country's borders to prevent them from becoming uninhabited.
The remains of 193 Japanese war dead from World War II were added to the Chidorigafuchi National Cemetery in Tokyo. The addition brought the total number of people laid to rest there to 371,167.
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The Russian envoy is set to skip the annual Hiroshima peace ceremony, resulting in no Russian representative for the fifth consecutive year since the invasion of Ukraine began in 2022.