Kojiro Hayashi vividly recalls the image of swaying palm trees, crystal-clear blue seas and a sense of peace when he first visited Lubang, a small island in the western Philippines, in May 1996.

It was also a thought-provoking trip for Hayashi as he was part of a group accompanying Hiroo Onoda, a former intelligence officer in the Imperial Japanese Army. Onoda was making his first trip back to the island, where he fought and stayed on with his comrades until he was the only remaining survivor for almost three decades following the end of World War II — unaware that the war had ended.

"I thought to myself it must be fun to live on an island like this as Robinson Crusoe or Tarzan," said the 68-year-old Hayashi who, like Onoda, is from Wakayama Prefecture.