evidence: The biggest symbol of the Japan’s one-time presence on the island is the Sakhalin Regional museum, a building, which at first glance reminds one of a Japanese palace. The building, which was used as the administrative headquarters of the southern part of the island then known as Karafuto, is a rare and fine example of Russo-Japanese fusion architecture. Visitors to the city from the ‘Land of the Rising Sun’ often comment on how there is probably no similar structure back home, but for Sakhaliners, it is a piece of Japan on the island. [...] Sakhalin is also a trend-setter when it comes to Japanese cuisine. Almost a decade before sushi bars became vogue in Moscow, the Russian far eastern island had a good collection of Japanese restaurants. The combination of easily available sea food and adventurous entrepreneurs from the other side of the La Perouse Strait gave the island a vibrant Japanese gastronomic scene. It’s impossible to live in the administrative capital of Sakhalin and not know about its most famous Japanese entrepreneur. Yutaka Miyanishi, now in his late-70s, came to Sakhalin around the time the island was thrown open for visitors to the outside world in the early-1990s. He has since opened the most frequented Japanese restaurant on the island: Furusato (which means homeland in Japanese).