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LEAD: Koizumi absent from annual rally on Russian-administered islands+
(Japan Economic Newswire Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)TOKYO, Feb. 7_(Kyodo) _ (EDS: UPDATING WITH KOIZUMI'S ABSENCE)
Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, in a rare move, was absent from an annual rally to renew Japan's appeal for Russian-administered islands and sent no one to give an address on his behalf.
Koizumi's absence sparked criticism from some who participated in the rally, held to renew Japan's call on Russia to return the islands it seized off Hokkaido at the end of World War II.
One participant said during a debate session prior to the plenary session that Koizumi's action sends the wrong political message to Russia, expressing concern that Russia could think Japan is no longer eager for the return of the islands.
Koizumi was absent from last year's rally due to illness but Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Masaaki Yamazaki delivered a speech on his behalf at that time.
Before Koizumi, there were only two instances in which a Japanese prime minister failed to attend the event, held annually since 1981, when the Japanese government designated Feb. 7 "Northern Territories Day."
Japan calls the disputed islands the Northern Territories. Russia calls them the Southern Kurils.
Cabinet Office officials said Koizumi decided not to join this year's rally due to his tight parliamentary schedule, including such responsibilities as being required to attend a session of the Budget Committee of the House of Representatives under way the same day.
Koizumi entrusted essential jobs to Hokkaido and Okinawa affairs minister Yuriko Koike rather than sticking to the formality of sending someone to the event only to read out an address for him, the officials said.
At issue is the sovereignty of the islands of Etorofu, Kunashiri and Shikotan as well as the Habomai islet group. The Soviet Union seized them at the end of the war. Japan has said some 17,000 islanders fled or were forced off the islands at the time.
"With this rally as a start, I'll tenaciously work and increase calls for the return of the Northern Territories," Koike, who doubles as Japan's environment minister, said at the event.
"I'll deal with the issue in a proactive manner considering the situations surrounding aging former islanders," Foreign Minister Taro Aso said.
The event came as Russia has hardened its stance on the long-standing territorial dispute, which has prevented the two countries from signing a World War II peace treaty.
Putin defended Russia's claim to the islands, saying last week at a news conference that international accords such as the 1945 Yalta Agreement legitimize it.
Koizumi and Putin failed to make progress on the issue in their talks in Tokyo in November, though hopes of a breakthrough had mounted as it was his first visit since 2000.
The Japanese government designated the memorial day to mark the Feb. 7, 1855, signing of the Japan-Russia commerce and friendship treaty that drew the line between the countries with the disputed islands on the Japanese side.
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