札幌——日本称为北方领土的俄控岛屿的前居民周六乘坐包机飞越岛屿附近，以便在空中祭拜祖先。
Sapporo – Former residents of Russian-held islands called the Northern Territories in Japan took a chartered flight Saturday to fly near the islands so that they can pay respects to their ancestors from above.
举行空中祭祖仪式主要是因为因俄罗斯全面入侵乌克兰，日俄两国已暂停交流项目，其中包括允许前居民前往日本声称拥有主权的岛屿上亲属和祖先墓地祭扫的项目。
The aerial memorial service was held mainly because the two countries have suspended exchange programs, including one to allow former residents to visit graves of their relatives and ancestors on the islands claimed by Japan, due to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
这是第二次举行此类祭祖仪式。第一次是在2020年新冠疫情期间举行的。今年11月7日计划举行类似活动。
This was the second such memorial service. The first one took place in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. On Nov. 7 this year, a similar event is slated to be held.
周六的仪式有34人参加，包括前岛民及其家属。包机于上午10时45分左右从北海道根室中标津机场起飞，参加者于上午11时左右在空中合十祈祷。
Saturday’s service was attended by 34 people, including former islanders and their families. The chartered plane left Nemuro Nakashibetsu Airport in Hokkaido around 10:45 a.m., and participants put their hands together in the sky around 11 a.m.
“从空中看到岛屿时，我想起了故乡，感到怀念，” 89岁的前居民西馆富江说，她曾居住在北方领土的一部分——国后岛。
“When I see the islands from above, I remember my hometown and feel nostalgic,” said participant Tomie Nishidate, 89, a former resident of Kunashiri Island, part of the Northern Territories.
来自同一岛屿的90岁老人田端邦子在女儿星仁美（66岁）陪同下参加了仪式，并谈起了她上过的学校。星仁美说：“近在咫尺却又遥不可及。看着岛屿，我想到曾经有一段时间母亲生活在那里。” 这些岛屿是日俄领土争端的核心，二战末期被苏军占领。
Kuni Tabata, 90, from the same island, participated along with her daughter, Hitomi Hoshi, 66, and talked about the school she attended. Hoshi said: “It’s close and yet far away. I looked at it thinking that there was a time when she lived there.”The islands, which are at the center of the two countries’ territorial dispute, were seized from Japan by Soviet troops in the closing days of World War II.