Mount Rishiri stands loftily in the center of Rishiri Island. At its base can be found the graves of eight retainers from the Aizu feudal clan, with "the 5th Year of Bunka, Boshin" (1808) carved into the headstones. This was the year, in the latter days of the shogunate, that the Aizu and other northern feudal clans were ordered to send retainers to guard the Ezo area, as the Russians had begun their raids into the area. In whatever period, the ocean always serves as the stage for diplomatic history. The graves of the Aizu retainers remind us how the challenges of the ocean must always be met.