Diplomats from Japan yesterday investigated astonishing claims that two former Japanese soldiers have been hiding in the mountains of southern Philippines since World War II.
Japanese Embassy representatives went to the region to interview the two mystery men in a scheduled meeting yesterday arranged by a third person who had contacted the mission, embassy official Masaru Watanabe said.
However, the diplomats were kept waiting at a hotel in General Santos city, about 1,000km south of Manila, Japanese Embassy spokesman Shuhei Ogawa said.
As of yesterday afternoon, the two men hadn't shown up, Ogawa said.
Media reports in Japan said the two octogenarians lived on the southern island of Mindanao with equipment suggesting they were former soldiers, with one report saying they were separated from their division and later wanted to return to Japan but feared they would face a courtmartial.
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said in Tokyo he hoped the mystery would be cleared up soon.
"We are checking it now," he told reporters. "It is a surprise if it's true, but we have to check first."
Goichi Ichikawa, the chairman of a veterans group in Japan, said he first alerted the Tokyo government of reports about the men in February, asking that they be rescued as soon as possible.
Ichikawa said he learned of at least three Japanese men living in the mountains of Mindanao from someone who went there late last year.
"It's amazing they were able to survive for 60 years," Ichikawa told reports in Osaka. "Of course I was stunned."
The reports were reminiscent of World War II straggler Lieutenant Hiroo Onoda, who believed the war was still on when he was found in the jungle on the Philippine island of Lubang in 1974. He refused to give up until March of that year, when Japan flew in his former commander to formally inform him the war was over.
Another former Japanese soldier, Shoichi Yokoi, was found on Guam in 1972. He returned home and died in 1997.
Japan's Kyodo News agency said the two may be Yoshio Yamakawa, 87, and Tsuzuki Nakauchi, 83. But the Health Ministry in Tokyo declined to confirm the report saying they could not disclose any information until officials have identified them.
Embassy officials "want to meet directly with those two persons to find out if they are really Japanese soldiers, [and to find out details] beginning with their names and age," Watanabe said.
The Sankei Shimbun said the two had been in the mountains of Mindanao for about 60 years.
They remained there after failing to join their division after wandering in the mountains, the paper said. Last September, a Japanese national in the lumber business ran into them in the mountains. It was learned later that they wanted to go back to Japan but were afraid of facing a court-martial for withdrawing from action, the Sankei said.
But a senior Filipino police intelligence officer in the area cautioned that the story was yet to be confirmed.
"There is a possibility that this could just be a hoax," he said.
CREDIT-GRABBER: China said its coast guard rescued the crew of a fishing vessel that caught fire, who were actually rescued by a nearby Taiwanese boat and the CGA Maritime search and rescue operations do not have borders, and China should not use a shipwreck to infringe upon Taiwanese sovereignty, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said yesterday. The coast guard made the statement in response to the China Coast Guard (CCG) saying it saved a Taiwanese fishing boat. The Chuan Yu No. 6 (全漁6號), a fishing vessel registered in Keelung, on Thursday caught fire and sank in waters northeast of Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台). The vessel left Keelung’s Badouzih Fishing Harbor (八斗子漁港) at 3:35pm on Sunday last week, with seven people on board — a 62-year-old Taiwanese captain surnamed Chang (張) and six
RISKY BUSINESS: The ‘incentives’ include initiatives that get suspended for no reason, creating uncertainty and resulting in considerable losses for Taiwanese, the MAC said China’s “incentives” failed to sway sentiment in Taiwan, as willingness to work in China hit a record low of 1.6 percent, a Ministry of Labor survey showed. The Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) also reported that the number of Taiwanese workers in China has nearly halved from a peak of 430,000 in 2012 to an estimated 231,000 in 2024. That marked a new low in the proportion of Taiwanese going abroad to work. The ministry’s annual survey on “Labor Life and Employment Status” includes questions respondents’ willingness to seek employment overseas. Willingness to work in China has steadily declined from
The number of pet cats in Taiwan surpassed that of pet dogs for the first time last year, reaching 1,742,033, a 32.8 percent increase from 2023, the Ministry of Agriculture said yesterday, citing a survey. By contrast, the number of pet dogs declined slightly by 1.2 percent over the same period to 1,462,528, the ministry said. Despite the shift, households with dogs still slightly outnumber those with cats by 1.2 percent. However, while the number of households with multiple dogs has remained relatively stable, households keeping more than two cats have increased, contributing to the overall rise in the feline population. The trend
The Legislative Yuan’s Finance Committee yesterday approved proposed amendments to the Amusement Tax Act (娛樂稅法) that would abolish taxes on films, cultural activities and competitive sporting events, retaining the fee only for dance halls and golf courses. The proposed changes would set the maximum tax rate for dance halls and golf courses at 50 and 20 percent respectively, with local governments authorized to suspend the levies. Article 2 of the act says that “amusement tax shall be levied on tickets sold or fees charged by amusement places, facilities or activities” in six categories: “Cinema; professional singing, story-telling, dancing, circus, magic show, acrobatics
RSS