In the final days of World War II, Chuhei Yamamoto gathered alongside dozens of other villagers to take a final photo together.
The people on Etorofu Island, located just north of Japan's main islands, had been spared the worst of the conflict due to their remote location.
But now the Soviet army was rapidly advancing, and the community was gripped with fear and uncertainty.
Just weeks earlier, Chuhei's father was killed in a US air raid when he went to nearby Hokkaido to replenish dwindling supplies.
"The village people were prepared to die rather than surrendering," he recalled.
"That's the reason why we all took a photo together in front of the government building."
For most of World War II, Japan and the Soviet Union were not adversaries, signing a neutrality agreement in 1941.
But in August 1945, the Soviet Union saw an opportunity to attack a crippled and near-defeated Japan.
Moscow violated the neutrality pact and attacked Japanese positions, taking territory even after Tokyo announced its intention to surrender.
Four islands were seized and never returned: Etorofu, Kunashiri, Habomai and Shikotan.
"We were forced out," Mr Yamamoto said.
Now, decades later, the islands have again become entangled in a conflict, but one that is thousands of kilometres away: Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Used as a pawn by Moscow over Japanese sanctions, Mr Yamamoto has come to terms with never seeing his homeland again.
"When I see Ukrainian people suffering and escaping to Poland, I feel it's similar to what we experienced," he said.
"It's worse than what we went through.
"I have no words."
Japan tried to woo Putin to hand over the islands
Japan and Russia never signed a peace treaty after World War II, with the return of the islands remaining a sticking point.
To Japan, the lands are an inherent part of their territory, while Russia sees them as the legitimate spoils of war and of strategic importance to access the Pacific Ocean.
When Russia invaded Ukraine this year, there were doubts Japan would mount a strong response amid fears it would jeopardise any hope of getting the islands back.
Former PM Shinzo Abe tried to build a rapport with Russian President Vladimir Putin, signalling Japan would be happy with just two of the four islands as part of an official peace deal.
When Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, Japan was relatively silent. The tactic ultimately failed.
"[Mr Abe] put everything into this," said James Brown, an expert in Russia-Japan relations at Temple University in Tokyo.
"He met with Putin 27 times, he invited him to his hometown, he even tried to give him a pet dog.
"And yet Russia's position, instead of softening to that, actually hardened."
Mr Abe's successor as prime minister, Fumio Kishida, left many observers pleasantly surprised when he took a very different approach to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
He condemned Moscow's actions, imposed a series of sanctions alongside other G7 nations, expelled Russian diplomatic staff, and delivered support for Ukraine.
"It's important to clearly show that costs will be high for action violating international law," Mr Kishida said shortly after the invasion began.
As predicted, Russia responded with news that it would no longer continue peace talks with Japan, and a program allowing visa-free travel to former island residents was suspended.
Dr Brown believes Russia was never likely to give the islands back to Japan.
"President Putin is willing to invade a neighbouring country," he said.
"That doesn't really fit in with the idea that he'd be willing transfer territory, voluntary, to a US ally."
The move also demonstrated a stronger commitment to human rights, something Mr Kishida had talked about previously, Dr Brown said.
"[Fumio Kishida] doesn't share Abe's enthusiasm for relations with Putin's Russia," he said.
"He obviously decided there wasn't much to lose because the territorial issue wasn't going anywhere."
'They invaded their brother's country with tanks and guns'
Despite a campaign by former residents to see the islands returned, Chuhei Yamamoto believed his homeland was out of reach long before peace talks were suspended.
When the Soviets arrived, residents were forced to share their homes with Russian officers, belongings were snatched at a whim, and anyone over 17 was put into forced labour.
Food was scarce, but the occupiers did not care, Mr Yamamoto said.
After two years, the inhabitants were deported after refusing to adopt Soviet citizenship.
Decades later, Mr Yamamoto and other former residents were finally able to see their home island again in the final days of the Soviet Union.
"Even though it was my homeland, it felt like someone else's country," he said.
Russia has conducted war games on the islands in recent weeks, and fired a cruise missile from a submarine in the Sea of Japan or East Sea as a show of force.
Tokyo has, for the first time since 2003, described Russia's hold on the islands as an "illegal occupation".
Despite relations between Russia and Japan sinking to a new low, Mr Yamamoto supports Japan's response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
"They invaded their brother's country with tanks and guns," Mr Yamamoto said.
"It's unthinkable as human beings."
