A Japanese team began excavating near a decommissioned nuclear power plant in southern Taiwan on Sunday, searching for the remains of soldiers killed during World War II in what marks the first such operation on the island in roughly half a century.
The Japan Association for Recovery and Repatriation of War Casualties launched the 12-day dig on July 20 at the outfall of the No. 3 Nuclear Power Plant in Pingtung County, according to local media. It is the first time since 1975 that a Japanese group has conducted a wartime remains recovery mission in Taiwan, ending a gap of nearly 50 years.
The effort targets casualties from the Bashi Channel, where U.S. forces sank Japanese transport ships including the Tamatsu Maru in 1944, leaving only 65 survivors from more than 4,800 aboard. The strait became known as a graveyard for transport vessels, with total losses estimated at over 100,000. Any remains found will be examined anthropologically before potential repatriation and DNA testing in Japan.