Japan's former foreign minister, Seiji Maehara, has embarked on a tour of Russia's disputed Southern Kuril Islands in the Pacific Ocean, Kyodo News said on Friday.
The row over the islands, which are known as the Northern Territories in Japan, has prevented the two countries from signing a formal peace treaty since the end of World War II.
''As a parliamentarian, I want to renew my determination to resolve the territorial issue as quickly as possible,'' Maehara told reporters prior to his departure for Etorofu Island.
Last year, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev sparked a diplomatic row with Tokyo by making the first ever visit by a Russian leader to the islands. He later said Russia would increase its military presence there.
Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan called Medvedev's visit an "inexcusable rudeness."
Maehara first visited the islands in 2006.
