Japanese WWII soldier found alive
An ex-Japanese soldier who disappeared after World War II and was officially declared dead in 2000 has turned up alive in Ukraine, officials say.
Ishinosuke Uwano was in Russia's Sakhalin Island when the war ended and lost contact with his family in 1958. Japan declared him killed in the war.
The 83-year-old has now reappeared, in Ukraine, where he is married and has a family, Japanese officials say.
He is due to visit Japan for the first time in six decades on Wednesday.
"Since his name has already been deleted from the official family registry, he will return to Japan technically as a Ukrainian citizen with a Ukraine passport," the government official said.
The Japanese authorities are now updating the official family registry to re-include him.
He is due to visit family members and friends in Iwate, northern Japan, with his son before returning to Ukraine on 28 April, the AFP news agency reports.
Strong interest
Mr Uwano's existence came to light last year after he asked friends in Ukraine to help him contact the Japanese government, which then sent officials to interview him in Kiev.
He was one of thousands of Japanese soldiers and civilians who were left stranded across the Pacific and in parts of China and Russia after the war ended.
Some were kept as prisoners and forced to work as slave labourers, others chose to remain of their own accord.
Why Mr Uwano remained in Russia, and how he ended up in Ukraine, has not been disclosed.
There is still much interest in Japan in the plight of former soldiers who never made it home, the BBC's Chris Hogg in Tokyo says.
Last year, Japanese officials returned empty-handed after going to a remote Philippine village to investigate reports that two former Imperial Army members were hiding there.
Story from BBC NEWS:
news.bbc.co.uk
Published: 2006/04/17 14:58:48 GMT |
