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A Monument to Friendship between Russia and Japan

In August 1994 a monument to friendship between Russia and Japan was installed with an inscription saying “Paying our tribute to Kodayu and his compatriots who had left their mark on the pages of the history of Russo-Japanese relations, we erect this memorial monument on the majestic and beautiful Russian land as a testimony to the friendship between cities of Irkutsk and Suzuki and as a wish for peace between the peoples of both countries”. Daikokuya Kodayu (1752-1830), a Japanese seafarer and captain of the “Shinsho-maru”, wrecked on the Russian coast in 1783. Only the Governor-General of Eastern Siberia Ivan Alfredovich Pil could help them return to Japan, so the Japanese traveled from Yakutsk to Irkutsk. In 1792 D. Kodayu and his two companions at last managed to return to their native land. The return of Kodayu’s crew became the first step for establishment of diplomatic relations between Japan and Russia. Street of Kanazawa