Seven decades on, Japan looks for WWII remains

There are no heroes in war. Real soldiers know that.

To put in perspective - the families of soldiers killed should do all they can to find the remains of their loved ones, but for the Americans as well as the Japanese, this shouldnt be a government initiative. The cost to the government is better spent elsewhere.

The axis powers do not get war cemeteries in the nations they invaded and conquered. It isn't how things work.

There are such cemeteries but it is another matter who bears the cost of maintaining them. See: http://ww1cemeteries.com/other_cemeteries_ext/maleme_german_cem.htm

If the Japanese would want, they could have a cemetary in Guam that would provide for a final resting place for those soldiers perished there and they would serve as a reminder of the role of the Japanese Army in WW2. But they will not want that.

The Allied cemeteries in Normandy and Thailand, for example, are famous symbols of sacrifice and honor. Japanese don't see things that way. It's gotta be Japan or nothing.

Allied cemeteries in Normandy and Thailand are primarily symbols of gratitude. It is land given by the host nation to the allies in a show of appreciation for the thousands of soldiers that died to liberate their country.

The axis powers do not get war cemeteries in the nations they invaded and conquered. It isn't how things work.

It's the same reason why there are no US war cemeteries in Vietnam or North Korea.

@dudeyes Your comparison is incorrect. The US effort was about MIAs/POWs - missing in action. The missions were prompted by families who wanted to know what had happened to the soldiers so that they could have closure. There were rumors the communists had taken them prisoner or that they had deserted, etc.

True, there was repatriation, but that wasn't the thrust. The Japanese missions, by contrast, are all about removing the remains from nasty foreign soil to so that they can rest easily in "pure" Japan.

The Allied cemeteries in Normandy and Thailand, for example, are famous symbols of sacrifice and honor. Japanese don't see things that way. It's gotta be Japan or nothing.

As far as I can see the relatives in the article is not looking for a blame-game, which seems to be quite common elsewhere. Maybe that means the issue is only a matter of individual closure in a culture that reveres their ancestors. However far more important, I think Japan needs to find ways to cope with the loss of millions of innocents when the allies terror bombed up to 80 cities on Japans mainland. Imagine the number of screaming children i the fires. This trauma may still be bottled up in the population.

Yes, of course, dudeyes. The arrogance with which America expects its dead to be offered up from Vietnam even though it invaded and committed atrocities there is very much the same. I agree. But it is nonetheless irrelevant. Just because we can find a similar case to the one under examination in any subject whatsoever does not excuse it. If so, considering the barbarity of the human race over its history, we would never be able to make any judgments. I think this observation should be at the forefront of everyone's mind when they want to comment with, "but it is just the same in .... blah, blah, blah."

I think what Japan is doing is no different than the US soldiers who go to Vietnam to look for their fallen family members or buddies. The US was the aggressor in that war, yet that's not the narrative that comes out of the US media now - they were just "doing their job".

"Finding the remains all over Asia and the Pacific are a great opportunity for Japan to wonder and reflect on what these soldiers were doing there - invading and killing - but it is, as ever, presented as a tale of sacrifice and victimhood." The exact same thing can be aid of the US in Vietnam.

perhaps the countries in question can agree to help when Japan accepts its role as the aggressor and settles for its war crimes such as the women forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese army.

Kan boosted the annual budget to more than one billion yen a year for three years, a sharp increase from the normal budget of 200 to 300 million yen.

Yay, more wasting of taxes for some useless right-wing nationalist propaganda.

Finding the remains all over Asia and the Pacific are a great opportunity for Japan to wonder and reflect on what these soldiers were doing there - invading and killing - but it is, as ever, presented as a tale of sacrifice and victimhood.