Russian presence in Japanese, yet decreasing?
Seen the most in Hokkaido, as there are several ferries and flights (mostly seasonal) which leave from several places here, though this is not widely used by the population due to its expense and time required for strict visa rules and processing, hence people here tend to choose very much cheaper and easier travel to Korea, China, Australia, or other ASEAN country etc. Indeed in our last journey to Hokkaido in Mid-winter 2008, the feeling is apparently mutual as seen by the marked increase in Hokkaido of these visitors. Hokkaido seems also now to make efforts to attract international visitors with signposts and labelling in four languages, excluding Russian.
