Russia releases fishing boat skipper

NEMURO — A Japanese skipper taken into Russian custody for intruding into and poaching in Russian-administered territorial waters off Nemuro, Hokkaido, left for home Tuesday morning for the first time in almost seven weeks, the Foreign Ministry said.
Noboru Sakashita, 59, was handed over to the Japanese side after accepting a South Kuril District Court ruling Sept 21 in Yuzhno-Kurilsk on Russian-administered Kunashiri Island that he pay a 500,000-ruble (about $12,700 or 2.2 million yen) fine.