A descendant of a former Japanese resident of the Russian-controlled islands called the Northern Territories in Japan is seeking to preserve memories of life on the isles through the creation of pictorial maps.
Takako Yamashita, 61, is drawing and distributing the maps to aging ex-residents of the four Japan-claimed islands off the tip of Hokkaido, so that they can remember their hometowns even as a program allowing them to visit the islands is suspended amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Russia seized the four islands from Japan in the closing days of World War II.
Yamashita's mother, Sakiko Suzuki, 85, from the village of Shibetoro on the island of Etorofu, is involved in efforts to share the memories of the island. Yamashita, who is also engaging in these efforts while running a piano class, began drawing pictorial maps in 2020 after she heard former islanders express regret over the island visit program being suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic.