{"id":73772,"date":"2025-03-08T15:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-03-08T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/uncategorized\/2025\/03\/08\/okinawan-bone-digger-searches-for-remains-from-wwii-battle\/"},"modified":"2026-08-20T16:17:18","modified_gmt":"2026-08-20T16:17:18","slug":"okinawan-bone-digger-searches-for-remains-from-wwii-battle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/veterans\/military-history\/2025\/03\/08\/okinawan-bone-digger-searches-for-remains-from-wwii-battle\/","title":{"rendered":"Okinawan bone digger searches for remains from WWII battle"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">ITOMAN, Japan \u2014 Takamatsu Gushiken turns on a headtorch and enters a cave buried in Okinawa\u2019s jungle. He gently runs his fingers through the gravel until two pieces of bone emerge. These are from the skulls, he says, of an infant and possibly an adult.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He carefully places them in a ceramic rice bowl and takes a moment to imagine people dying 80 years ago as they hid in this cave during one of the fiercest battles of World War II. His hope is that the dead can be reunited with their families.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The remains of some 1,400 people found on Okinawa sit in storage for possible identification with DNA testing. So far just six have been identified and returned to their families. Volunteer bone hunters and families looking for their loved ones say the government should do more to help.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/your-military\/2024\/05\/28\/the-military-lab-that-identifies-fallen-troops-decades-after-wwii\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP24145663904855.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">The military lab that identifies fallen troops decades after WWII<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Generations of American families have grown up not knowing exactly what happened to their loved ones who died while serving their country in World War II.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Gushiken says the bones are silent witnesses to Okinawa\u2019s wartime tragedy, carrying a warning to the present generation as Japan ups its defense spending in the face of tensions with China over territorial disputes and Beijing\u2019s claim to the nearby self-governing island Taiwan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe best way to honor the war dead is never to allow another war,\u201d Gushiken says. \u201cI\u2019m worried about Okinawa\u2019s situation now. \u2026 I\u2019m afraid there is a growing risk that Okinawa may become a battlefield again.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">An island haunted by one of the deadliest battles of World War II<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On April 1, 1945, U.S. troops landed on Okinawa during their push toward mainland Japan, beginning a battle that lasted until late June and killed about 12,000 Americans and more than 188,000 Japanese, half of them Okinawan civilians. That included students and victims of mass suicides ordered by the Japanese military, historians say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The fighting ended at Itoman, where Gushiken and other volunteer cave diggers \u2014 or \u201cgamahuya\u201d in their native Okinawan language \u2014 have found the remains of what are likely hundreds of people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Gushiken tries to imagine being in the cave during the fighting. Where would he hide? What would he feel? He makes a guess about the age of the victims, whether they died by gunshot or explosion, and puts details about the bones in a small red notebook.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"8640\" height=\"5760\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP25063447128431.jpg.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-110069\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP25063447128431.jpg.jpg 8640w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP25063447128431.jpg.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP25063447128431.jpg.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP25063447128431.jpg.jpg?resize=1024,683 1024w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP25063447128431.jpg.jpg?resize=1536,1024 1536w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP25063447128431.jpg.jpg?resize=2048,1365 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 8640px) 100vw, 8640px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Gushiken and other volunteer cave diggers \u2014 or \u201cgamahuya\u201d in their native Okinawan language \u2014 have found the remains of what are likely hundreds of people killed in the Battle of Okinawa. (Hiro Komae\/AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After the war, Okinawa remained under U.S. occupation <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/flashpoints\/2022\/05\/15\/okinawa-marks-50-years-of-end-to-us-rule-amid-protests\/\" target=\"_blank\">until 1972<\/a>, 20 years longer than most of Japan, and it remains host to a major U.S. military presence to this day. As Japan enjoyed a postwar economic rise, Okinawa\u2019s economic, educational and social development lagged behind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Gushiken says when he was a child growing up in Okinawa\u2019s capital, Naha, he would go out hunting bugs and find skulls still wearing helmets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A slow search for remains<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Nearly 80 years after the end of World War II, 1.2 million <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/ap-top-news-world-war-ii-tokyo-international-news-asia-7d3b321e2efcb43ab6607dde73846038\" target=\"_blank\">Japanese war dead<\/a> are still unaccounted for. That\u2019s about half of the 2.4 million Japanese, mostly soldiers, who died during Japan\u2019s early 20th-century wars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Thousands of unidentified bones have been sitting in storage for years waiting for testing that could help match them with surviving families.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Gushiken says the government\u2019s DNA matching efforts have been too little and too slow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Of the estimated 188,140 Japanese killed in the Battle of Okinawa, most of their remains had been collected and placed in the national cemetery on the island, the health ministry says. Around 1,400 remains found in recent decades sit in storage. The process of identification has been painfully slow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It was only in 2003 that the Japanese government started DNA matching after requests from the families of the dead, but tests were limited to the remains found with teeth and manmade artifacts that could provide hints to their identities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In 2016, Japan enacted a law launching a remains recovery initiative to promote more DNA matching and cooperation with the U.S. Department of Defense. A year later, the government expanded the work to civilians and authorized testing on limb bones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"7082\" height=\"4721\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP25063447200754.jpg.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-110070\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP25063447200754.jpg.jpg 7082w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP25063447200754.jpg.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP25063447200754.jpg.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP25063447200754.jpg.jpg?resize=1024,683 1024w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP25063447200754.jpg.jpg?resize=1536,1024 1536w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP25063447200754.jpg.jpg?resize=2048,1365 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 7082px) 100vw, 7082px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Gushiken shows a tooth of someone believed to have died during the Battle of Okinawa towards the end of World War II in 1945. (Hiro Komae\/AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In all, 1,280 remains of Japanese war dead, including six on Okinawa, have been identified by DNA tests since 2003, the health ministry said. The remains of around 14,000 people are stored in the ministry mortuary for future testing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Hundreds of American soldiers remain unaccounted for. Their remains, as well as those of Koreans mobilized by the Japanese during the war, may yet be found, Gushiken says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Locating and identifying decades-old remains have become increasingly difficult as families and relatives age, memories fade, artifacts and documents get lost, and the remains deteriorate, says Naoki Tezuka, a health ministry official.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe progress has been slow everywhere,\u201d Tezuka said. \u201cIdeally, we hope to not just collect the remains but return them to their families.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The burden of history<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Japan is undertaking an accelerating military buildup, sending more troops and weapons to Okinawa and its <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/global\/asia-pacific\/2025\/02\/28\/the-tiny-japanese-island-militarizing-on-taiwans-doorstep\/\" target=\"_blank\">outer islands<\/a>. Many here who have bitter memories of the Japanese army\u2019s wartime brutality view the current military buildup with wariness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Washington and Tokyo see the strong U.S. military presence as a crucial bulwark against China and North Korea, but many Okinawans <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/2024\/10\/02\/no-more-late-night-drinking-for-us-troops-in-japan\/\" target=\"_blank\">have long complained<\/a> about noise, pollution, aircraft accidents and crime related to American troops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Okinawa today is home to more than half of the 50,000 American troops stationed in Japan, with the majority of U.S. military facilities on the small southern island. Tokyo has promised to relocate a U.S. Marine Corps air station that sits in a crowded town after years of friction, but Okinawans remain angry at a plan that would only move it to the island\u2019s east coast and may use the soil possibly containing the remains for construction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Gushiken says the Itoman caves should be protected from development so that younger generations can learn about the war\u2019s history, and so searchers like him can complete their work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Like him, some Okinawans say they fear the lessons of their wartime suffering are being forgotten.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Tomoyuki Kobashigawa\u2019s half-sister Michiko was killed soon after she got married. He wants to apply for DNA matching to help find her. \u201cIt\u2019s so sad. \u2026 If she would have lived, we could have been such good siblings.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The missing remains show the government\u2019s \u201clack of remorse over its responsibility in the war,\u201d Kobashigawa says. \u201cI\u2019m afraid the Okinawan people will be embroiled in a war again.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><i>Yamaguchi reported from Tokyo.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As a volunteer cave digger, Takamatsu Gushiken has unearthed the remains of several hundred people killed in one of the bloodiest battles of World War 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By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Okinawan bone digger searches for remains from WWII battle - Marine Corps Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"As a volunteer cave digger, Takamatsu Gushiken has unearthed the remains of several hundred people killed in one of the bloodiest battles of World War II.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Okinawan bone digger searches for remains from WWII battle\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"As a volunteer cave digger, Takamatsu Gushiken has unearthed the remains of several hundred people killed in one of the bloodiest battles of World War II.\" 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