Recovering Japan's Lost Soldiers 80 Years After the Pacific War

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The year 2025 marks the 80th anniversary of the end of the Pacific War, and one of the ongoing postwar challenges is recovering the missing war dead. The remains of over one million Japanese soldiers are still uncollected in regions such as the Central Pacific, Southeast Asia, and the former Soviet Union.

The Japanese government has pledged to focus on the recovery of these war dead until FY2029. However, only 71 sets of remains had been recovered this fiscal year as of December 2024. With the aging of the families of the fallen soldiers, there is an urgent need to expedite the collection and return of these remains.

Government Efforts and Challenges

According to the Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare, approximately 2.4 million Japanese soldiers died overseas during the war. Of these, around 1.28 million individuals were returned to Japan. This includes 932,000 during the postwar repatriation period and 340,000 by the government after 1952. However, the bones of around 1.12 million are still abroad.

Roughly 300,000 of these are lost at sea. An additional 230,000 are in areas where recovery is difficult due to local legal restrictions or religious customs. This still leaves about 590,000 sets that could be recovered.

Historically, information about the remains of war dead was gathered from the comrades and families of the fallen soldiers. As the number of surviving witnesses decreases, the availability of such information has also diminished.

Since FY2006, the government has relied on private organizations to gather information through interviews conducted abroad.

*A Type Zero three-seat floatplane of the Imperial Japanese Navy rests in the waters of Palau. (Courtesy of underwater photographer Hiroyuki Tomura)*

Recovery and Repatriation Process

In 2016, the "Act on Promoting the Recovery of the Remains of Japanese War Dead" (Act No. 12 of 2016) was enacted. This law designates the recovery of remains as the government's responsibility. Since then, the Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare has outsourced the task to the Japan Association for Recovery and Repatriation of War Casualties.

By FY2029, the government and the association plan to investigate about 3,300 burial sites. These sites were identified from previously gathered information to confirm the presence of remains.

Some remains discovered during these investigations have been brought back as specimens. If DNA tests confirm them as Japanese, cremation and memorial services would be held before repatriating them to Japan.

Ongoing Investigations

The number of remains recovered has varied in recent years. There were 105 sets in FY2018, 75 in FY2019, 121 in FY2020, and 141 in FY2021. By the end of December 2025, 71 sets had been recovered from locations such as the Mariana Islands.

As of December 2024, the government had conducted 28 local investigations in 14 regions, including the Marshall Islands and eastern New Guinea. The government also plans to strengthen efforts to recover remains from group burial sites, like the one found in September 2024 on Palau's Peleliu Island. Around 1,000 individuals are buried there.

A representative from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare emphasized, "Given the aging of the families of the war dead, we aim to return as many remains as we can to Japan as soon as possible."

Author: The Sankei Shimbun

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