JAPAN / History

First DNA test eyed for remains of Japanese soldier recovered on Russian island

A picture from the early 1940s shows Shigeichi Idoi (center, front row) posing for a portrait in Otaru, Hokkaido, before he is drafted into the wartime Japanese military. The government will conduct a DNA test on remains of a Japanese soldier who died soon after Japan's surrender in World War II on Shumshu Island, now part of Russia's Kuril Islands. The remains are highly likely to be those of Idoi. | KYODO

Kyodo

Dec 23, 2015

The government has decided to conduct a DNA test for the first time on what is believed to be the remains of a Japanese soldier who died in a battle with Soviet forces in 1945, government sources said Wednesday.

The man is thought to have died in a battle on Shumshu Island, now part of Russia's Kuril Islands, shortly after Japan's surrender in World War II on Aug. 15, 1945, according to the sources.

Shumshu Island, the second northernmost of what Japan called the Chishima Island group, was invaded by Soviet forces before dawn on Aug. 18, 1945, sparking a major battle through Aug. 23 that year, in which at least several hundred Japanese and Soviet troops died.

First DNA test eyed for remains of Japanese soldier recovered on Russian island

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