In June, 11 Japanese people whose family members died shortly after the end of World War II in the area now called North Korea traveled to the communist country to carry out memorial services for their kin. It was the first time they'd ever done so on North Korean soil.
Approximately 300,000 Japanese were in the area at the close of the war, and the occupying Soviet Army refused to allow them to leave. At least one-tenth are believed to have died of starvation or exposure, but a good number also tried to escape over the 38th Parallel.
NHK will present a special docudrama called "Shirarezaru Dasshutsugeki" ("The Unknown Escape Drama"; NHK-G, Mon., 10 p.m.), which attempts to explain what happened to these people based on records recently uncovered in Russian archives.