Japanese soldier ‘killed’ in WWII surfaces

[SSGMike.Ivy]

Japanese soldier ‘killed’ in WWII surfaces

Now in Ukraine with three children, he was stationed on Russian island


TOKYO - A former Japanese soldier last seen by his family when he went off to fight in World War II has resurfaced in Ukraine and is returning to Japan to see his relatives after 60 years, the government said Monday.
Ishinosuke Uwano, now 83, had been declared among Japan’s war dead in 2000.
Suminori Arima, a health ministry official in charge of locating war veterans lost overseas, declined to say where Uwano had been the past six decades or why he had not been in touch with his family in Japan.

He said Uwano was expected to arrive Wednesday with his Ukrainian son to spend 10 days with his surviving relatives in Iwate, about 290 miles northeast of Tokyo.
“It’s wonderful that Mr. Uwano can make a homecoming visit in good health,” Arima said.
Uwano was an Imperial Army soldier serving in a force occupying the island of Sakhalin in Russia’s far east when the war ended in August 1945. Arima said he was last reported seen there in 1958.
Arima said the aging Uwano, who lives in the former Soviet republic of Ukraine, asked someone in his local community to help him track down his Japanese relatives. Inquiries by the acquaintance eventually reached the health ministry, which sent staff to interview Uwano at the Japanese Embassy in Kiev, Arima said.
The health ministry declined to provide more information on the former soldier and details of his Japanese and Ukrainian families were not disclosed.
Kyodo News agency said Uwano moved to Ukraine in 1965 and has three children. He lives in Zhitomir, a city just west of the capital, Kiev, the report said.
The government believes about 400 former Japanese World War II soldiers are living in the states of the former Soviet Union, including 40 who have been identified.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12354675/

[plant-pilot]

What an amazing story. There are questions to be answered, like why they didn't go home (even if only for a visit) sooner, but an amazing story all the same.

[smc]

There was a similar story a few years back when a Hungarian captured in Stalingrad was discovered in Siberia. On this occasion I believe he had shell shock when captured and ended up in asylum speaking what the staff thought was gibberish until about 50 years later when somebody recognised it was Hungarian.

[lancesergeant]

Sakhalin Island is a stepping stone between the Russian mainland and the Northern most tip of Japan. The Russian were considering invading Japan but were warned off by Truman. That is not to say that they didn't venture over from Vladivostok and snatched a few of the occuppying troops for interrogation. That seems a logical conclusion to me, but it would be embarrassing for the Japanese government to admit. This soldier and his colleagues can't have just wandered off.

[ComradeRomain]

Its actually impressive that he was able to live in Ukraine right after WW2, wouldn't there have been lots of hatred towards the Japanese in the soviet union?? The Hungarian guy's story just shocked me!!

[kfz]

I think its quite a common occurance, for POWs to settle down. My wife lived in a little village in Wales in the Beacons. I once asked why everyone spoke what sounded like German. Apparently their was a POW camp and after the war many decided they didnt have much to home for a settled right there.

Kev

[smc]

Originally Posted by lancesergeant

Sakhalin Island is a stepping stone between the Russian mainland and the Northern most tip of Japan. The Russian were considering invading Japan but were warned off by Truman. That is not to say that they didn't venture over from Vladivostok and snatched a few of the occuppying troops for interrogation. That seems a logical conclusion to me, but it would be embarrassing for the Japanese government to admit. This soldier and his colleagues can't have just wandered off.

The island was shared half and half between the USSR and Japan prior to 1945. In fact a Soviet Army invaded the Japanese half in August 1945 along with seabourne landings from the mainland. The island currently belongs to Russia.

[smc]

Originally Posted by ComradeRomain

Its actually impressive that he was able to live in Ukraine right after WW2, wouldn't there have been lots of hatred towards the Japanese in the soviet union?? The Hungarian guy's story just shocked me!!

Story here regarding the Hungarian

http://www.aiipowmia.com/inter1/in091900c.html

Interesting the guards decided to drop him off at a mental institute rather than take him to Siberia. I do remember reading at the time that he may have had shell shock.

[Kitty]

Not sure whether to feel sorry for the Hungarian, relieved he didn't end up in Siberia, or absolutely horrified! Poor guy. Maybe the Jap didn't want to go home because of the shame of being captured alive? It's a possibility; better to be thought dead than a prisoner.