During the Pacific War, two requisitioned ships of the former Japanese army that sank off the coast of the Truk Islands in the Federated States of Micronesia (now the Chuuk Islands) will be used for a diving survey to collect the remains.
It will be the first time in about five years that a project to collect remains left at sea will be held overseas.
According to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, about 3,000 ships, including ships of the former Japanese army and transport ships recruited from the private sector, were sunk in the Pacific War, but the remains of only about 670 people were collected.
On the other hand, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare announced a new policy three years ago, stating, "We will actively collect information about the remains of some 300,000 people still left in the sea, and if it is technically possible, we will detain them." However, due to the spread of the new corona infection, all overseas collection of remains was suspended.
However, last month, permission was received from the Federated States of Micronesia, so the survey team departed on the 7th, and it was decided to conduct surveys off the Truk Islands from the 11th of this month.
It will be the first time in about five years that a survey will be conducted to collect remains overseas.
More specifically, divers will dive into the Shinkuni Maru and Kiyosumi Maru, requisitioned ships of the former Japanese army, which have sunk to a depth of about 30 meters, to search for remains.
The survey will be conducted for four days, and if the remains are found, they will be collected as early as summer.
We are also investigating other ships that are sunk nearby.