NIPPON



 

The Japanese government has been struggling to collect the remains of Japanese nationals who died abroad in World War II as the number of bereaved families and local people with firsthand experience of the war is decreasing.

Of the 2.4 million Japanese nationals who are believed to have died abroad in the war, including those who perished on Ioto, a remote Tokyo island widely known as Iwo Jima, and Okinawa Prefecture, southern Japan, about 1.12 million sets of remains have not been collected.

Some 230,000 sets are believed to be difficult to retrieve due to the situation in countries concerned, including China and North Korea, while about 300,000 sets are believed to be under the sea.

The other 590,000 sets are retrievable, according to the welfare ministry. But as time passes, fewer people have firsthand knowledge of the war period, making it difficult to gather information. The government's efforts were also affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia's invasion to Ukraine.

Facing the difficulties, the government has extended its intensive search period, which had been due to end in fiscal 2024, for five years.