[Provisional Translation]

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe received a courtesy call from a group of junior high school students who are third and fourth generation descendants of former inhabitants of the Northern Territories of Japan, at the Prime Minister's Office.

These seven students spoke about their feelings toward the Northern Territories, after which the Prime Minister said,

“Through your stories today, I was able to sense the feelings of your grandfathers and grandmothers, as well as your great-grandfathers and great-grandmothers, toward the Northern Territories. Even 70 years after the end of World War II, a peace treaty has unfortunately yet to be concluded between Japan and Russia. For these 70 years, it has been the ardent wish of Japan to resolve the issue of the attribution of the Four Northern Islands and to conclude a peace treaty.

As Prime Minister, I have held summit meetings with President Putin on thirteen occasions, and I plan on meeting with President Putin again this coming September in Vladivostok. I hope to discuss the issue of this peace treaty once again at this meeting. This issue is of the utmost importance to Japan and I hope to reach a resolution during our generation. I hope to create a new era where all of you can visit the Northern Territories just as easily as you can visit Tokyo, so that you can travel to the homeland of your ancestors.

We must not allow the people of Japan to forget about the passion and commitment for solving  this issue of the Northern Territories. If we lose this passion, it will make concluding a peace treaty even more difficult as time passes. I believe that resolving the issue of the attribution of the Four Northern Islands will become more difficult, too, so I hope that young people in Japan, such as yourselves, have a strong interest in the issue, as well as share with many others the feelings of your parents, grandparents and great grandparents towards the Northern Territories. Today we have the Internet, which allows us to reach people around the world, and it will help reach a resolution to the issue of the Northern Territories. I would like all of you here today to harness the power of your youth to aid such efforts.”