A Japanese group yesterday began excavating near Pingtung County’s decommissioned Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant in search of the remains of Japanese soldiers who died during World War II.
The excavation, outside the plant’s water discharge outlet, is being led by the Japan Association for Recovery and Repatriation of War Casualties, with assistance from local residents and Japanese cultural historian Kazuko Tachi, who lives in Taiwan.
The operation was approved and supported by the Kenting National Park Headquarters, Taiwan Power Co and the Pingtung County Government.
Photo: CNA
National Tsing Hua Universitys Institute of Anthropology director and associate professor Chiu Hung-lin (邱鴻霖) is serving as an adviser on the search for the soldiers’ remains, which are believed to have washed ashore near the site after their transport ship was sunk by US forces.
Association official Tatsuaki Inoue told reporters that the 12-day search would be followed by anthropological examinations of any remains found to determine whether they belong to Japanese soldiers.
Inoue said he felt deep sympathy for the families of the deceased and expressed hope that the remains could be repatriated.
He also thanked Taiwanese for their empathy and support for the excavation, saying that, with many conflicts around the world, it is important to learn lessons from the tragedy of war.
Tachi said she began searching for the remains seven years ago, eventually contacting the association three years ago.
In 1944, transport ships, including the Tamatsu Maru, were sunk by US forces in the Bashi Channel, with only 65 of more than 4,800 people aboard surviving, she said.
The bodies of many of those who were killed were carried by sea to the Hengchun Peninsula, Tachi added.
Based on oral accounts from local elders, the remains might be among coastal rocks near the discharge outlet of the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant, she said.
A local volunteer who is assisting with the excavation said her grandfather witnessed the aftermath of the shipwreck as a child, when residents helped survivors and buried the bodies they found.
She described the incident as part of a shared history between Taiwan and Japan, saying people should move past hatred and remember the human side of history.
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