EDITORIAL | Honor the War Dead by Bringing Every One of Them Home

An onsite survey is currently being conducted on Attu Island in the Aleutian Archipelago of Alaska. Its goal is to collect the remains of the Japanese war dead from World War II. An estimated 2,600 Japanese servicemen perished on this United States territory in the North Pacific. 

Attu was the site of fierce fighting in May 1943. The survey is the first in 70 years. 

It is the responsibility of the nation to bring home the remains of those who died fighting for their homeland and honor their souls. It is now 79 years after the end of the Pacific War. However, the remains of approximately 1.12 million Japanese who died in that conflict remain on foreign soil, including that of Attu.

We hope that the government will promptly do everything in its power to return as many remains as is feasible.

Battle of Attu

When the Japanese military captured Attu in June 1942, it became the first US territory that Japan occupied. In May of 1943, the US military landed a force of more than 10,000 men, intending to recapture the island. The Japanese defenders resisted doggedly for 17 days. Nevertheless, after inflicting heavy casualties on the US forces, the Japanese were finally defeated. 

The remains of about 320 people were recovered and returned to Japan in 1953. But that was the only time a search for remains on the island was conducted. 

The Japanese government carried out on-site surveys in 2007 and 2008. Later, however, the US Coast Guard ended its presence on the island, leaving it uninhabited. Consequently, there have been no collection activities since then.  

An onsite investigation will take place from August 19 to 23. It will involve identifying where human remains are located, checking road conditions, and so on. Hopefully, the Japanese authorities will coordinate closely with their US counterparts to ensure a successful collection operation. 

Recovering Other Remains

A proactive effort to recover remains at other battlefields besides Attu is also necessary. According to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, approximately 2.4 million Japanese died during the war in Okinawa, Iwo Jima, and other overseas locations. However, the remains of about only 1.28 million people, or about half, have been recovered so far.

The situation on the Asian mainland has been particularly difficult. An estimated 200,000 remains are still there. Collection in China has been impossible because of rampant anti-Japan sentiment. 

The collection of remains in territories of the former Soviet Union began in FY 1991. They include the remains of POWs who had been interred in Siberian prison camps following the war. However, these operations have been mostly suspended since 2020 due to the spread of COVID-19 and the fallout from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. 

Hopefully, the governments of China and Russia will come to understand our motivation and agree to cooperate in the collection of the remains of our war dead. The Japanese government must steadfastly negotiate to bring that about. 

A National Responsibility

The Act on Promotion of the Collection of War Dead Remains, enacted by the Diet in 2016, clearly states that such collection is a "national responsibility." 

The souls of the war dead resting in foreign lands, no doubt yearn to return to Japan as soon as possible. The government must continue to fulfill its responsibility to the war dead as long as the remains of even a single soldier have not come home.

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(Read the editorial in Japanese.)

Author: Editorial Board, The Sankei Shimbun