Takamatsu Gushiken turns on the headlamp and enters a cave buried in the Okinawa jungle. He gently runs his fingers through the gravel until two bones come out. These are from the skull and are from toddlers and possibly adults.
He carefully puts them in a ceramic rice bowl and takes a little time to imagine people who would die 80 years ago while hiding in this cave in one of the most intense battles of World War II. His hope is that the dead can be reunited with their families.
The ruins of about 1,400 people discovered in Okinawa are sitting in storage to identify with DNA testing. So far, only six have been identified and have returned to their families. Volunteer bone hunters and families looking for loved ones say the government should do more.
Gushiken says bones are quiet witnesses The tragedy of Okinawa during the wartimehas a warning to current generations when Japan is outweighing defense spending in the face of tensions with territorial disputes and tensions over Beijing’s claims over nearby autonomous island Taiwan.
Hiro Komae / AP
“The best way to celebrate the deaths of war is to never allow another war,” Gushiken said. “I’m worried about the situation in Okinawa right now. …I’m worried that there is an increased risk that Okinawa might become a battlefield again.”
The island is haunted by one of the deadliest battles of World War II
(April 1, 1945,The US military landed in Okinawa During the promotion to the mainland of Japan, it continued until late June, starting a battle in which about 12,000 Americans and over 188,000 Japanese people, half of whom killed Okinawan civilians. It included students and victims of mass suicide ordered by the Japanese military, historians say.
The battle ended with Itman. In Itoman, cave digging for Gushiken and other volunteers, or “Gamahuya” in Okinawa’s native language, found ruins of hundreds of people.
Gushiken tries to imagine being in a cave during battle. Where will he hide? What does he feel? He places bone details in a small red notebook about the victim’s age, whether they died from gunshots or explosions.
After the war, Okinawa remained under US occupation until 1972, and remains a major host for 20 years longer than most Japan. The existence of the US military Until today. Okinawa’s economy, education and social development were lagging behind as Japan enjoyed the postwar economic growth.
Gusheng says that when he was a child who grew up in Naha, Okinawa’s capital, he would go hunting bugs and find a skull still wearing a helmet.
A slow search for ruins
Almost 80 years after the end of World War II, the 1.2 million Japanese war has yet to be explained. That is about half of the 2.4 million Japanese people, mainly soldiers, who died in the war in the early 20th century.
Thousands of unidentified bones have been sitting in storage for years, waiting for tests that could match surviving families.
Gushiken said the government’s DNA matching efforts were too little and too late.
Hiro Komae / AP
Of the estimated 188,140 Japanese people killed in the Battle of Okinawa, most of their bodies were collected and placed in the island’s national cemetery, the Ministry of Health says. Approximately 1,400 found in recent decades are stored. The identification process was painfully slow.
It was only in 2003 that the Japanese government began DNA matching after requests from families of the deceased, but the tests were limited to bodies found in teeth and artificial artifacts that could provide hints for their identity.
In 2016, Japan enacted a law launching the Recovery Initiative to promote more DNA matching and cooperation with the US Department of Defense. After Leah, the government expanded the job to civilians and approved a test of limb bones.
In total, 1,280 remains of Japan’s war, including six of Okinawa, have been identified by DNA testing since 2003, the Ministry of Health said. The ruins of about 14,000 people are kept at provincial funerals for future testing.
Hundreds of American soldiers are still not explained. Their bodies and the bodies of Koreans mobilized by Japanese people during the war may still be found, Gushiken said.
As family and relatives lose ages, memories, artifacts and documents and ruins deteriorate, it is becoming increasingly difficult to find and identify ruins that were decades ago.
“Progress is slowing everywhere,” Tezka said. “Ideally, I would like to not only collect the bodies, but also return them to their family.”
The burden of history
Japan accelerates its military accumulation and sends more troops and weapons to Okinawa and its outer islands. Many who have bitter memories of the Japanese wartime atrocities are wary of current military accumulation.
While Washington and Tokyo view the presence of strong US troops as important breakwaters against China and North Korea, many Okinawans have long complained about noise, pollution, aircraft accidents and crimes related to the US military.
Today, Okinawa has more than half of the 50,000 American troops stationed in Japan, with most of the US facilities located on the small South Island. Tokyo has pledged to relocate a US Marine Corps air base that sits in a crowded town after years of friction, but Okinawa remains pissed over a plan that could only move to the island’s east coast and use soil containing bodies for construction.
Gushiken says Itman’s caves will be protected from development, allowing younger generations to learn about the history of the war, and searchers like him can complete the task.
Like him, some Okinawans say they fear that the lessons of wartime suffering have been forgotten.
Michiko, a sister on Kobasikawa Island, was killed shortly after they got married. He wants to apply for DNA matching to find her. “That’s so sad… if she lived, we might have been a very good brother.”
The disappearance indicates the government’s “lack of regret for responsibility in the war,” Kobasigawa says. “I’m worried that the Okinawan people will be caught up in the war again.”
