The Yomiuri Shimbun
Thousands of Japanese soldiers who died in the Battle of Iwo Jima were buried by U.S. forces in mass graves on the island, the government has learned.
In August, the government hopes to set up a task force led by Yukihiko Akutsu, an adviser to the prime minister, under special assignment from Prime Minister Naoto Kan.
The team is expected to start excavation work by the end of this fiscal year.
Iwo Jima, now known as Iwoto island, was the site of a fierce battle between Japanese soldiers and U.S. marines in the final days of World War II.
Akutsu said Friday the government obtained the information from the U.S. National Archives.
The government found a description of U.S. combat troops making a mass grave for Japanese soldiers near Mt. Suribachi in the south of the island. The description was among records at the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration. The remains of as many as 2,000 soldiers may be in the grave, according to Akutsu.
Other records mention two other mass burial sites, one for about 2,000 Japanese soldiers and another for about 200, though their locations are not specified.
Of about 22,000 Japanese soldiers who were said to be killed on the island, the remains of only 8,700 have been recovered.
(Aug. 1, 2010)
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