As he trekked through the mud and rocks of Japan’s humid Okinawan jungle, Takamatsu Gushiken came upon a slope where human remains have remained unnoticed since World War II. At 72 years old, he took a moment to pray and lifted a makeshift protective cover, revealing half-buried bones believed to belong to a young Japanese soldier.
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“These remains deserve to be returned to their families,” said Mr. Gushiken, a businessman who has dedicated over 40 years to searching for war casualties. Recently, the island of Okinawa commemorated the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Okinawa.
Mr. Gushiken is committed to returning ‘every last one’ of Japan’s war dead from Okinawa to their families. Today, Japan and the United States are allies, yet estimates indicate that 2,600 bodies have yet to be recovered. However, many locals, including Mr. Gushiken and seasoned volunteers, believe many more remain hidden beneath farmlands, buildings, jungles, and caves.
The situation has intensified as soil and rocks from southern Okinawa—where the fiercest fighting took place—are being quarried to construct a new U.S. air base. This decision has ignited frustration among Mr. Gushiken and others, who fear it will disturb the final resting places of those who fell during the brutal conflict.
Okinawa’s breathtaking landscapes may be a popular tourist destination today, but they still bear the scars from March to June 1945, when the U.S. military made decisive assaults against imperial Japan. Walking along the winding forest trails of the Itoman district, Mr. Gushiken reflected on where he might have hidden as a local or soldier during those terrifying times.
Navigating over moss-laden rocks on a narrow, leafy path, he discovered a crevice between massive boulders—just large enough for a small group to find shelter. He meticulously sifted through soil scattered with fragmented bones, shirt buttons from Japanese soldiers, a rusted can lid, and even a gas mask fitting.
Nearby, he unearthed a complete skeleton of a soldier who seemingly suffered a blast wound to the face. “All these people… their last words may have been ‘mom, mom,'” Mr. Gushiken reflected, emphasizing the societal responsibility to honor and return these remains to family tombs.
Mr. Gushiken recalls being only 28 when he was first approached to assist in locating the war dead. Initially overwhelmed by the vastness of the task, he eventually resolved to help reconnect families, believing it a necessary act of compassion.
After the war, survivors who had endured captivity returned to their devastated hometowns, desperately trying to rebuild their lives and attending to the solemn duty of collecting bodies, often burying them without any identification. “They saw their communities completely burned; no one could identify their homes. Bodies hung from tree branches,” shared Mitsuru Matsukawa, 72, from a foundation dedicated to the Okinawa Peace Memorial Park.
The park hosts a national collective cemetery for the war dead, and it’s heartening to see that some young people are taking up this mantle of remembrance. Wataru Ishiyama, a 22-year-old history student from Kyoto, regularly travels to Okinawa as a member of the Japan Youth Memorial Association, which focuses on recovering Japanese war remains both at home and abroad. “These people have been waiting in such dark, remote areas for so many decades. I want to return them to their families—every last one,” he stated. His work has sparked a deeper interest in contemporary Japan’s defense and security issues, and he is contemplating a career in the military.
Meanwhile, the construction of the new U.S. air base, which occupies partly reclaimed land in northern Okinawa, has faced strong opposition. “It is a sacrilege to the war dead to use land that has absorbed their blood for new military purposes,” argued Mr. Gushiken. He believes that these areas should be preserved for their historical significance, serving as peace memorials to remind future generations of the tragic repercussions of war.
“We are now in a time when fewer people can recall the Battle of Okinawa,” Mr. Gushiken pointed out. “At this point, only the bones, the fields, and the various artifacts will remain to keep the memories alive.”
Edited By Ali Musa
Axadle Times International – Monitoring.
