OREANDA-NEWS. The first pilot trip of a group of Japanese tourists to the southern part of the Kuril Islands starts on Tuesday from the port of Nemuro on the island of Hokkaido, it will lay the foundation for organizing full-scale tours of this kind in the future. This was announced on Tuesday at a press conference in Tokyo by Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi.

“The group,” the minister said, “will go on tour on the ship. It will include more than 40 tourists and accompanying persons. From November 30, she plans to visit the islands of Kunashir and Iturup”.

"We would like this trip to be connected with the solution of the problem of the northern territories, as the southern part of the Kuril Islands is called in Tokyo and would allow on this basis to advance consultations with Russia on joint economic activities on the islands", said Motegi. This will be a test start in the development of full-scale tours appropriate to the features of the area".

The trip will last approximately until November 4. This was previously reported to the Russian media in the press service of Rostourism following the meeting held in Hokkaido with the head of the department Zarina Doguzova and the head of the Japanese tourism organization under the Ministry of State Lands, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism of Japan Hiroshi Tabata.