Karafuto Prefecture

Karafuto (樺太, Karafuto), commonly called South Sakhalin, was the Japanese administrative division corresponding to Japanese territory on southern Sakhalin island from 1905 to 1945.

Through the Treaty of Portsmouth, the portion of the island south of 50°N became a colony of Japan in 1905. In 1907 the prefecture of Karafuto was established, with its capital at Ōtomari (大泊, now Korsakov) in 1905 and later Toyohara (豊原, now Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk) in 1907. In 1945, with the defeat of Japan in World War II, Karafuto was occupied by Soviet troops and its Japanese administration ceased to function. Karafuto Prefecture was formally abolished as a legal entity on June 1, 1949. Since 1951, the southern part of Sakhalin has been a part of Sakhalin Oblast in the Soviet Union and Russia.

Name

The Japanese name Karafuto (樺太) comes from Ainu kamuy kar put ya mosir (カムイ・カラ・プト・ヤ・モシリ), which means "the island a god has created on the estuary (of Amur River)". It was formerly known as Kita Ezo (北蝦夷), meaning Northern Ezo (Ezo is the former name for Hokkaido). When Japanese administered the prefecture, Karafuto usually meant Southern Sakhalin only. For convenience, the northern part of the island was sometimes called Sagaren (薩哈嗹).

Barack Obama to meet Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss two-state solution to Israel-Palestine conflict

Edit The Independent 18 Sep 2016

Barack Obama will meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestine conflict ... More follows More about....

photo: AP / Andres Kudacki

Police and firefighters work near to the scene in Manhattan, New York, Saturday, Sept. 17, 2016.

Manhattan explosion leaves 29 hurt; 2nd device probed

Edit The Oklahoman 18 Sep 2016

NEW YORK (AP) — An explosion in a crowded Manhattan neighborhood on Saturday night left 29 people injured, and authorities said a second nearby site was also being investigated. Mayor Bill de Blasio called the blast an "intentional act," but said there was no terrorist connection. "Tonight, New York City experienced a very bad incident," de Blasio said at a news conference near the scene in Chelsea ... " ... Police spokesman J ... In St ... ___ ... ....

photo: NASA / JPL-Caltech/MSSS

This view from the Mast Camera (Mastcam) on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover shows an outcrop with finely layered rocks within the "Murray Buttes" region on lower Mount Sharp. The image was taken on Sept. 8, 2016.

UFO Enthusiast Claims Discovery Of Ancient Alien Writing On ‘Abandoned Spacecraft’ On Mars

Edit Inquisitr 17 Sep 2016

A UFO enthusiast has claimed to have discovered what appears to be an “abandoned spaceship” on Mars. And that’s not all. The supposed craft, captured in a NASA Mars photo, has strange markings in the manner of hieroglyphs on its surface that the enthusiast believes could very well be a form of alien writing ... UFOmania described the object ... Scott C ... One commenter insisted all that was discovered was a rock....

photo: AP / Andres Kudacki

Police arrive on the scene of an explosion in Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood, in New York, Saturday, Sept. 17, 2016. A law enforcement official tells The Associated Press that an explosion in the Chelsea neighborhood appears to have come from a construction toolbox in front of a building.

Governor: Authorities will find who's responsible for NYC explosion

Edit Arkansas Online 18 Sep 2016

NEW YORK — Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Sunday that an explosion that rocked a crowded Manhattan neighborhood, injuring 29 people, doesn't appear to be linked to international terrorism, and he vowed that authorities would find and prosecute whoever was responsible ... He encouraged New Yorkers to go about their day as usual. "We're not going to let them win," Cuomo said at the scene. "We're not going to let them instill fear." ... "We felt it ... ....

photo: Creative Commons / Gage Skidmore

Donald Trump speaking to supporters at an immigration policy speech at the Phoenix Convention Center in Phoenix, Arizona, 31 August 2016

Donald Trump threatens to sue New York Times

Edit The Irish Times 18 Sep 2016

Donald Trump has threatened to sue the New York Times. In a tweet on Saturday night, the Republican nominee for president wrote. “My lawyers want to sue the failing @nytimes so badly for irresponsible intent. I said no (for now), but they are watching. Really disgusting.”. The tweet marks Mr Trump’s latest attack on the press although litigation is unlikely to succeed ... Trump proposes disarming Clinton guards ... ADVERTISEMENT ... The Guardian ... ....

search tools

You can search using any combination of the items listed below.

Language:

Sort type:

Arrived Within:

Search Type:

Bombing Hiroshima Changed The World, But It Didn't End WWII

Edit Information Clearing House 27 May 2016

By Oliver Stone and Peter Kuznick.  . May 27, 2016 "Information Clearing House" - "LA Times" - President Obama’s visit to Hiroshima on Friday has rekindled public debate about the U.S ... Truman’s decision to use atomic bombs, has opted to remain silent on the issue ... 10 why Japan needed to surrender so quickly, he explained, “the Soviet Union will take not only Manchuria, Korea, Karafuto, but also Hokkaido....

Another 5,000 Soviet detainee names shown

Edit The Japan News 09 Apr 2016

The Yomiuri ShimbunThe Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry has released newly discovered lists containing a total of 4,964 names of Japanese nationals who died mainly in detention camps in the former Soviet Union after the end of World War II ... By region, 4,584 were listed as dying in Siberia, 375 in Karafuto, now called Sakhalin — including names that appeared in multiple documents — and five in Manchuria ... Click to play ... + - ... ....

Behind the Scenes / Sakhalin documents failed to be collected

Edit The Japan News 19 Mar 2016

By Hirohiko Ide and Kenichi Ogata / The Yomiuri ShimbunThe Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry has missed important records in Russian archives in its efforts to identify deceased Japanese nationals who were detained (see below) in Sakhalin by the Soviet Union at the end of World War II ... Focused on Siberia ... The All Japan Federation of Karafuto, made up of 1600 returnees and others, receives inquiries about where and how relatives died ... ....

Papers on Karafuto detainees found

Edit The Japan News 07 Mar 2016

By Kenichi Ogata / Yomiuri Shimbun Correspondent MOSCOW — Records have been discovered in Moscow on the movements of 288,655 Japanese nationals who were detained by the Soviet Union after the end of World War II in Karafuto, now called Sakhalin, the northern territories off Hokkaido and the Chishima Islands ... addition to that in Karafuto,” Kato said....

Japanese detainees honored in Siberia / New memorial evokes victims’ ‘voices coming from blizzards’

Edit The Japan News 27 Jan 2016

The Yomiuri ShimbunA cenotaph for the many Japanese detainees who lost their lives in Siberia has been erected in Norilsk, Russia ... On Oct ... Watanabe lived with her parents in Toyohara (now called Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk) of Karafuto (now called Sakhaklin) during World War II. Her father Yoshio was a public servant of the Karafutocho, a governmental agency in South Karafuto, which was then under the rule of Japan ... But he was never found ... + - ... ....

Beloved Akita dogs / Creating ideal dogs through strict screening

Edit The Japan News 30 Dec 2015

By Teruo Miyazawa / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff WriterThis is the second installment in a series ... Chuken Hachiko, an Akita dog famous for its unshakable loyalty to his master, was born in 1923. Hachiko, which originally had erect ears and a curled tail, was a rare Akita dog in those days ... On the other hand, the Akita dog’s long hair that comes from the bloodline of Karafuto dogs is hated as this is a persistent genetic throwback ... ■ Selection ... ....

Sakhalin Japanese mark 25 yrs of renewed ties

Edit The Japan News 20 Oct 2015

The Yomiuri ShimbunThis year, those involved with efforts to facilitate temporary return trips for the Japanese who remained in Sakhalin (Karafuto), Russia, after the war marked the 25th anniversary of their endeavors ... The effort is targeted toward Japanese who have been living in Karafuto since before the war, or children born to Japanese parents after the war....

Anime review: 'Giovanni's Island'

Edit The Examiner 07 Oct 2015

“Giovanni’s Island” is a historical film about the Russian Occupation of Shikotan. Junpei and Kanta are brothers who are big fans of “Night on The Galactic Railroad” ... Soon, the entire population is transported to an internment camp at Maoka, in Western Karafuto. Can Junpei and Kanta be reunited with their father despite being placed in different internment camps?....

Determine fate of detainees at former Soviet camps outside Siberia

Edit The Japan News 31 Aug 2015

It has been disclosed that the Russian national archives have a number of documents, such as 55 photos of Japanese interned in Dalian in northern China and lists of deceased Japanese detainees in the northern part of the Korean Peninsula, the southern region of Karafuto (now called Sakhalin) and in Dalian ... Actual conditions of Japanese detainees in areas other than Siberia are virtually unknown, including how many died ... 31, 2015) ... + - ... ....

Government to survey Japan burials in Sakhalin

Edit The Japan News 08 Aug 2015

On Aug ... 25 that year ... However, according to the welfare ministry and the All Japan Federation of Karafuto, a Tokyo-based body comprising people from Sakhalin (also called Karafuto), no survey records remain on cemeteries of Japanese civilians in southern Sakhalin ... Yoshitsugu Nishimoto, president of the All Japan Federation of Karafuto, said, “In Sakhalin, more civilians were killed than military personnel, so this survey is crucial.” ... ....

Behind the Scenes / Putin’s Russia eyes ‘correctness’ on territories

Edit The Japan News 08 Jul 2015

I also found an astonishing description of the “Kuril Islands.” Several history textbooks geared at eleventh graders, the equivalent of high school students in Japan, state that the Kuril Islands, along with southern Sakhalin (formerly Karafuto), were “freed” by the Soviet forces. Chishima and southern Karafuto were Japanese territory at the end of the war, so the idea of them being “freed” by the Soviet Union is preposterous ... + - ... ....

New designated corporation eyed to recover war dead

Edit The Japan News 25 May 2015

This will be followed by war-bereaved families associations and private companies working to physically collect remains up through the end of fiscal 2025 ... In addition to Japanese soldiers and military servicemen detained in Siberia, it has been learned that a large number of civilians were also forced into detention in northern parts of the Korean Peninsula, the southern part of Karafuto island and other places ... Click to play ... + - ... ....

Nature in Short / With the changing of seasons come the migratory swans

Edit The Japan News 10 Nov 2014

By Kevin Short / Special to The Japan NewsWinter greetings. In the traditional Asian koyomi almanac, the Ritto, or official start of winter, occurred last Friday ... cygnus), tundra swan (C ... Radio collar research conducted by the Biodiversity Center of Japan indicates that one of the main migration routes passes through the island of Sakhalin (Karafuto) and on into Hokkaido, but some birds may also come via the Kamchatka Peninsula ... + - ... ....