1,852 More Japanese War Dead Laid to Rest at Tokyo Cemetery

May 28, 2018

Tokyo- The remains of an additional 1,852 unidentified Japanese who died during World War II were laid to rest at Chidorigafuchi National Cemetery in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward in a memorial service on Monday.

Among the remains were those recovered in and brought back from Russia and Iwojima, a remote Tokyo island where a savage battle was fought between Japan and the United States, under a Japanese government project.

The number of war dead honored at the cemetery now totals 369,166.

From the Imperial Family, Prince Hitachi, the younger brother of Emperor Akihito, attended the ceremony, hosted by the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, who filled in for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, and Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Katsunobu Kato offered flowers at the ceremony.

According to the ministry, some 2.4 million Japanese died overseas during the war. The Japanese government started the project to recover the remains in 1952. The remains of about 1.13 million people have yet to be collected.

The cemetery was established in 1959 to remember unknown Japanese World War II victims, both troops and civilians, who lost their lives abroad. Jiji Press