On Palau's Peleliu Island, which became a fierce battlefield in the Pacific War, an excavation survey of the tanks of the former Japanese army, which remains buried on the island, will be conducted for the first time.


There is a high possibility that the remains of the war dead are left in the tank, and it is expected that the collection and identification of the remains will progress.

In 1944, a fierce battle took place between the former Japanese and American forces on Peleliu Island in Palau, an island nation in the Pacific Ocean, and more than 10,000 people died on the Japanese side alone.



A national survey has so far found the remains of about 7,800 people, but it is believed that many remains are still left.



Under these circumstances, in the southwestern part of the island where a fierce battle took place, an excavation survey of the former Japanese army tank, which remained buried in the ground after the war, will be conducted for the first time from the 18th.



According to the Japan Association for the Promotion of the Collection of War Dead Remains, which was commissioned by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare to conduct an investigation, about 130 tanks belonging to a tank corps were buried near the site, and the remains of the war dead were left inside the car. It means that there is a high possibility that



As a result of applying for an excavation survey to the Palauan government since two years ago, permission was granted. I am going to



According to the Japan War Dead Remains Collection Promotion Association, ``If the remains are found, we can expect to identify them by comparing them with the list of members of the corps at the time.''

Bereaved family "I feel like I've been waiting for a long time"

Toshiko Kido, the granddaughter of the commander of a tank unit of the Imperial Japanese Army deployed on Peleliu Island and participating in this research as a representative of the bereaved family association, said, ``My grandfather and comrades-in-arms, who spent many years sleeping on the ground and could not return home. I feel that I have been waiting for an opportunity that may be able to bring their remains back to Japan, and I will do my best to meet the expectations of the bereaved families."

Remains of 1.1 million war dead overseas not recovered

According to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, collection of the remains of Japanese who died in World War II began seven years after the end of the war, but the remains of approximately 1.1 million people who died overseas have not yet been collected. .



As bereaved families continue to age, in 2016 a law was enacted that made collecting the remains of the war dead a national responsibility, and the government plans to intensively collect the remains by fiscal 2024.



However, due to the spread of the new coronavirus, collection activities overseas have been suspended since February the year before last, and not a single one was carried out last year.



Overseas collection of remains will resume in the Mariana Islands in January this year, and if it is done on Peleliu Island, it will be the third area after the resumption.