The bilateral friendship facility dubbed Muneo House on Russian-held Kunashiri Island has been used as a hotel, deviating from its original purpose, according to sources from the two countries.

Since fiscal 2003, Japan has paid some 3.7 million yen annually to maintain the facility. Officially called the House of Friendship, it was built on the disputed island in 1999 for 463 million yen under a Japanese aid project, according to the Foreign Ministry.

The facility was nicknamed Muneo House after House of Representatives member Muneo Suzuki, who once had strong influence over Japan’s policy on the Russian-held islands and was reportedly heavily involved in the facility’s construction.

“We have not confirmed this yet, but I think it can be called out-of-purpose use,” said an official in the ministry’s Russia Division.

The agreed purpose of the facility was that it would be used as an evacuation facility for islanders in the event of a disaster and for exchange and dialogue projects between the two countries.

The sources said Russians unrelated to such exchange projects have been accommodated at the facility since at least several months ago.

Construction workers and fisheries workers from outside the island are believed staying at the facility for 350 to 650 rubles (1,700 yen to 3,100 yen) a night.

The two-story prefabricated facility has 12 rooms and can accommodate 75 people.

Source

This entry was posted on Sunday, July 8th, 2007 at 11:51 am and is filed under Hotel, Real Estate. Tags: Foreign Ministry House of Representatives Islands Japan Projects Russia . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.