The White Emigrants in Hokkaido (the history of the Belonogovs family)

The article is devoted to the topic of the white emigrants in Hokkaido, Japan. The article uses previously unknown materials and documents from personal archives, interviews with family members of emigrants, thus giving the opportunity to understand the historical processes and look at some events from a different angle. On the example of one family, a distant diaspora on the northernmost island of Hokkaido is rendered. Special attention is paid to the reasons and ways of getting to the island of Hokkaido, attitude to the church, relations with the local population and Soviet representatives, the socio-economic situation of emigrants who found their own way and did not lose the Russian originality. The small diaspora in Hokkaido was widely distributed throughout the island. The Japanese did not resist the influx of Russians because of the strong Japanese Orthodox diaspora on the island. However, in the pre-war period members of the Russian diaspora were arrested on suspicion of espionage. This information is absolutely new for the Russian historiography.