noun
Karafuto; Sakhalin (Japanese name)
Historical Japanese name for the island of Sakhalin, used especially during the period of Japanese administration (1905–1945). In modern contexts, サハリン is more common.
樺太はかつて日本の領土だった。
Karafuto was once Japanese territory.
祖父は樺太で生まれました。
My grandfather was born in Karafuto.
Modern, internationally used name for the same island. 樺太 is the historical Japanese term.
The origin of the reading からふと is uncertain; it may derive from Ainu or other regional languages. The kanji 樺太 are ateji (phonetic equivalents) assigned to represent the name.