Treaty of Shimoda
Weakened by the Crimean War, in 1855 Russia signed the Treaty of Shimoda and ceded a part of the South Kuril Islands to Japan, including the island of Kunashir. The Japanese predecessor of Yuzhno-Kurilsk, the village of Furukamappu (), was located in the northeastern corner of the eponymous bay. Furukamappu, with the neighboring villages of Okinokotan and Isoyanbetsu had fifty houses. There was a post office with the telegraph and shops. When the island was administered by Japan (1855–1945), other settlements were founded as well.