The news traveled quickly on a paradisiacal summer day in Nemuro, a remote fishing town in northern Japan. President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, in a show of strength, had made a surprise visit to a nearby chain of islands that both Russia and Japan claim.

At Nemuro’s City Hall, Mayor Masatoshi Ishigaki was concerned. For decades, the town’s residents have promoted Japan’s claims to the snow-capped island chain that Mr. Putin was visiting, with patriotic museums, billboards (“Give it back!”) and monuments.

But Nemuro, on the northern island of Hokkaido, also depends on Russia for trade and fishing rights, and Mr. Ishigaki worried any flare-up could hurt the economy.

“When friction arises between Japan and Russia, the pain is felt here immediately,” he said inside his office at City Hall, where the disputed islands loom in the distance on clear days.

ImageStanding by a tall window, a man in a dark suit and striped tie looks toward a distant city view. A white observation telescope is behind him.
“When friction arises between Japan and Russia, the pain is felt here immediately,” said the town’s mayor, Masatoshi Ishigaki.Credit…Kosuke Okahara for The New York Times
The fight over the archipelago, known in Japan as the Northern Territories and in Russia as the southern Kuril Islands, has festered since 1945, when Moscow seized the territory from Japan in the final weeks of World War II. Japan has pushed Russia for years to relinquish control of at least two of four inhabited islands. But Moscow has resisted, and the two sides have yet to sign a peace treaty formally ending the war.

Now Mr. Putin has revived the issue — an effort, analysts say, to put pressure on Sanae Takaichi, Japan’s hawkish prime minister, and to rally nationalist sentiment in Russia.Mr. Putin has increased the frequency and scale of military exercises in the seas near Nemuro. He has said that Russia’s claims to the islands are a “reality” that has been “enshrined in international documents.” He has attacked Japan for maintaining economic sanctions on Russia that were imposed after his invasion of Ukraine in 2022. And he has encouraged criticism of Tokyo; Russia recently unveiled a statue showing a Soviet soldier smashing the chrysanthemum seal of Japan’s imperial family.

On his visit last month to the disputed islands, the first in his quarter-century rule, Mr. Putin ate caviar and toured a seafood-processing plant. He was shown on Russian state television meeting with adoring crowds under a bright sun; one woman told him “the weather is smiling on you.”

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Two people look down at a large map in a glass display, showing blue water and green landmasses.
Visitors looking at a display of the Northern Territories on Cape Nosappu, the easternmost point of Japan’s mainland. The fight over the archipelago, known in Japan as the Northern Territories and in Russia as the southern Kurile Islands, has festered since 1945.Credit…Kosuke Okahara for The New York Times
Ms. Takaichi has called Mr. Putin’s visit “absolutely unacceptable” and said he “hurt the feelings of the Japanese people.” Her government has protested a new world map that shows Russia and the disputed islands in the same shade of yellow.

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Nowhere are the tensions more deeply felt than in Nemuro, a serene town of about 22,000 that is known for icy winters, kaleidoscopic sunrises and the bright-red spiny king crabs harvested on its shores.

Nemuro lies just a few miles from the southernmost part of the disputed islands, which are part of an archipelago stretching from the southern tip of the Kamchatka Peninsula in eastern Russia to Hokkaido at the top of Japan.

Like many rural Japanese towns, Nemuro has suffered from long-term demographic decline; its population is now about half of its peak of about 50,000 in the 1960s. Many young people have left for jobs and schools in Tokyo and other cities, as the economy has been hit by Russian-imposed limits on fishing for salmon and trout, and as trade has dwindled.

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A wet street leads into the distance, flanked by buildings and trees. Numerous power lines crisscross the overcast sky.
The main commercial district in Nemuro. The city’s population is roughly half that of its peak, which was about 50,000 in the 1960s.Credit…Kosuke Okahara for The New York Times
Russian sailors used to abound in Nemuro — so much so that the local schools still teach Russian, and stores cater to Russian visitors, who once came in search of refrigerators, ovens, bicycles, smartphones and televisions. Nemuro’s ports still display posters in fading Cyrillic type, including one that says: “Dear foreign sailors! Please practice safe navigation!”

But as relations between Japan and Russia have deteriorated in recent years, many Russians have stayed at home, hurting business at Nemuro’s restaurants, bars and seafood processors. For those who still come — hawking sea urchin, mackerel and kelp — it can be lonely.

“It feels like we’re the last of the Russians,” said Alexey Dudka, a sailor from the nearby Russian port town of Kholmsk, who was stopping in Nemuro for repairs on his ship. “It’s a ghost town now.”

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A large green and white boat floats in water under an overcast sky. A man stands on the boat’s deck, looking at his phone.
A Russian vessel delivering sea urchin at Nemuro port. Russian sailors used to abound in Nemuro — so much so that the local schools teach Russian, and stores cater to Russian visitors.Credit…Kosuke Okahara for The New York Times
‘Homes taken unfairly’
Despite its links to Russia, Nemuro has long been on the front lines of Japan’s efforts to win back the disputed islands, roughly the size of the state of Delaware. The town is filled with nationalistic posters that proclaim, “The Northern Territories are a Japanese territory.” A museum shows ancient books and maps meant to prove Japan’s longstanding ties to the islands. Japan traces its claims to the islands to the 17th century.

The patriotic mission in Nemuro has traditionally been led by former residents of the islands from Japan, but their ranks are dwindling. There are now about 4,700 living former residents in Japan, down from about 17,000 who were expelled by the Soviet Union at the end of World War II. They have an average age of about 90.

Hiroshi Tokunou, 92, was 11 in 1945 when Soviet troops occupied the islands. After living and studying alongside the Soviets for a brief period, he and his relatives were sent to an internment camp, to make way for incoming Soviet families. In 1947, they were allowed to return to Hokkaido.

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A man stands holding a cane, wearing a dark suit. A wall filled with framed black-and-white photographs is behind him.
Hiroshi Tokunou, 92, a former resident of one of the disputed islands, was 11 when Soviet troops occupied the archipelago in the final weeks of World War II.Credit…Kosuke Okahara for The New York Times
Mr. Tokunou said Mr. Putin “operates with a kind of cunning shrewdness,” adding that Japan should be firm in dealing with Russia. But, he said, “We also have to leave room for better relations in the future, for a rekindling down the line.” He said he was concerned the issue might fade if it is not taken up by Nemuro’s younger residents, who he worries have a “different way of thinking.”

Outside a local supermarket, Natsumi Nishita, 34, said it was “hard to get the same level of passion” as Nemuro’s elders about the dispute. Ms. Nishita, an English teacher at a cram school in Nemuro, said there were more important issues to worry about, like the economy.

“What Putin did was just a little thing that happened — a political appeal,” she said. “People here don’t think it’s a big deal.”

Mr. Ishigaki, the mayor of Nemuro, said he feels the islands are a missed opportunity for Japan; the local government estimates it could generate roughly $462 million each year in revenues from fisheries, seafood processing and other activities if it controlled the islands.

“We want to resolve this issue while we are still alive,” Mr. Ishigaki, 75, said.

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A multipaneled sign near a harbor reads shows text in English, Japanese and Russian. A concrete barrier with red, orange and yellow paint is below the signs, and fishing boats are in the background.
The signs at Nemuro port read in Japanese, Russian and English: “Welcome to Nemuro!” They also notify readers, “Return of the four islands will strengthen friendship between two nations. The Northern Territories are traditionally Japanese territory.”Credit…Kosuke Okahara for The New York Times
Ms. Takaichi has refrained from penalizing Moscow over Mr. Putin’s visit, as Japan manages acute energy concerns because of the war in Iran. Japan imports about 10 percent of its liquefied natural gas from Russia.

Ms. Takaichi’s government had seemed interested in improving relations with Mr. Putin, restarting trade and cultural visits to Moscow earlier this year, despite some objections from European allies. But Mr. Putin’s visit has cast doubt on those efforts.

“Russia tends not to reciprocate when another side makes unilateral concessions,” said James D.J. Brown, a professor of political science at Temple University in Tokyo. “Instead, they double down on pressure.”

Every year, Nemuro holds ceremonies to remember ancestors buried on the islands. These rituals used to take place, with Moscow’s blessing, at cemeteries in the disputed territories.

But after Japan imposed sanctions on Russia in 2022, Mr. Putin suspended those visits and they are now performed at sea.

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A ship departing for a memorial service at sea to remember ancestors buried on the islands.CreditCredit…Kosuke Okahara For The New York Times
On a stormy morning this month, Taiko Kodama, 81, a retiree and activist who was born in the disputed territories, boarded a ferry to take part in a ceremony.

Aboard the boat, called the Puffin, she said a prayer for her parents and grandparents, and laid flowers in their memory. She keeps two black stones from the islands inside her purse to remember her homeland, which she fled in 1947, when she was 3. She said she still remembers the smell of kelp there.

“Our homes were taken from us unfairly,” she said. “We have to speak from our hearts.”