Volunteer in search of the Second World War of the Dead in Japanese Caves reveals the remains of hundreds of people

Takamatsu Gushiken turns to the rumors and enters the cave buried in Okinawa’s jungle. Gently passes his fingers through the gravel until two pieces of bone appear. These are from the skull, he says, from newborns and possibly an adult.

Carefully puts them in a ceramic bowl with rice and it takes a moment to imagine that people die 80 years ago while hiding in this cave during one of the fiercest battles of World War II. He hopes the dead can reunite with their families.

The remains of about 1,400 people found on Okinawi sit in the warehouse for possible identification with DNA testing. So far, only six have been identified and returned to their families. Volunteers of bone hunters and families seek their loved ones say the government should do more to help.

Gushiken says bones are quiet witnesses Okinawana war tragedyWearing a warning to the present generation, while Japan increases its consumption for defense in tension with China due to territorial disputes and Beijing’s claims of the nearby self -governing island of Taiwan.

“The best way to respect the dead of war is never to allow another war,” Gushiken says. “I’m worried about the Okinawa situation now. … I’m afraid there is a growing risk that Okinawa can become a battlefield again.”

Island chased one of the most deadly battles from World War II

1. April 1945, American troops landed on Okinawa During his pushing towards the land of Japan, starting the battle that lasted by the end of June and killed about 12,000 Americans and more than 188,000 Japanese, half of whom are Okinawan civilians. This included students and victims of mass suicides ordered by the Japanese army, historians say.

The fights ended up in Itoman, where Gushiken and other volunteer caves – or “Gamahuya” on their native Okinavan language – found the remains of what is probably hundreds of people.

Gushiken is trying to imagine being in a cave during a fight. Where would you hide? What would you feel? It speculates on the age of the victims, whether they died of cracking or explosion, and puts details about the bones in a small red notebook.

After the war, Okinawa remained under American occupation until 1972, 20 years longer than most Japan, and remains hosting the Major American military presence to this day. As Japan enjoyed a post -war economic increase, the economic, educational and social development of Okinawa laged behind.

Gushiken says that when he was a child who grew up in Okinawa’s capital, Naha came out of the hunt and found a skull that still worn helmets.

Slowly the search for the remains

Almost 80 years after the end of World War II, 1.2 million Japanese war dead is still not account. This is about half of the 2.4 million Japanese, mostly soldiers, who died during the wars of the early 20th century in Japan.

Thousands of unidentified bones have been sitting in a warehouse for years, waiting for testing that could help them align with surviving families.

Gushiken says the efforts of the Government of the DNA are aligned too little and too slow.

Of the estimated 188,140 Japanese killed in the battle of Okinawa, most of their remains were collected and housed at the National Cemetery on the island, says the Ministry of Health. In the last decades, it remains about 1,400 remaining in the warehouse. The identification process is painfully slow.

It was not until 2003 that the Japanese government began to match DNA after the dead family demands, but the tests were limited to the remains found with the teeth and artificial artifacts that could provide hints of their identity.

In 2016, Japan adopted a law launching an initiative to recover residues to promote multiple DNA match and cooperation with the US Ministry of Defense. Later, the government expanded its work on civilians and authorized tests on the bones of the limbs.

All in all, 1,280 remains of the Japanese dead, including six at Okinawi, have been identified by DNA tests since 2003, the Ministry of Health said. The remains of about 14,000 people are stored in the morgue of the Ministry for future tests.

Hundreds of American soldiers are left without an account. Their remains, as well as those of the Koreans who have mobilized during the war, can still be found, Gushiken says.

Locating and identifying the decades of the old remains became increasingly difficult for families and relatives, memories of pale, artifacts and documents are lost, and the remains are worse, says Naoki Tezuka, an official of the Ministry of Health.

“Progress is slow everywhere,” Tesuk said. “Ideally, hopefully not only to collect the remains, but to bring them back to their families.”

Burden of history

Japan takes accelerating military accumulation, sending more trunk and weapons on Okinawa and its external islands. Many here who have bitter memories of the brutality of the Japanese army of war views at the current military accumulation with cautious.

Washington and Tokyo see a strong military presence in the United States as a key port against China and North Korea, but many Okinavans have long complained of noise, pollution, aircraft accidents and crime relating to American troops.

Okinawa today is home to more than half of 50,000 American troops stationed in Japan, with most US military buildings on the small South island. Tokyo promised to move the air station of the American Marine Corps sitting in a crowded city after years of friction, but Okinavans remain furious to a plan that will only move it to the eastern coast of the island and can use the soil that could contain residue to build.

Gushiken says that the Itoman caves should be protected from development so younger generations can learn about the history of war, so searches like him can complete their work.

Like him, some of the Okinavi say they are afraid that the lessons about their war suffering are forgotten.

Half sister Tomoyuki Kobashigawa was killed shortly after she married. He wants to log in to match DNA to help find it. “It’s so sad … If she lived, we could be such a good brothers and sisters.”

The missing remains show the government “lack of remorse for responsibility in the war,” says Kobashigawa. “I’m afraid Okinawan will be embedded in war again.”