digging them into the ground and employing them as fixed gun emplacements. An earthquake and subsequent tsunami caused major damage on the island's coastline on October 4, 1994. In popular culture The 2014 anime film Giovanni's Island is a fictionalized account of the fate of Japanese civilians living on Shikotan at the time of the 1945 Soviet occupation. Gallery See also Kuril Islands dispute Soviet–Japanese Joint Declaration of 1956 References External links Kuril Island Network - A volunteer group dedicated to raising awareness of the habitat on the Kurils - Satellite image of Shikotan [http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20061008f1.html Ainu speaker and activist explains the meaning of the South Kuril island names Disputed islands Japan–Soviet Union relations Southern Kuriles