For New Yorker Demian Akhan, 60, his recent visit to Japan marked the end of a decades-long journey to discover his roots.

He was one of the thousands of mixed-blood babies produced by U.S. servicemen and Japanese women during the Occupation, some of whom were abandoned, rescued by orphanages and later adopted away from Japan. In his first visit to his birthplace last month, Akhan met his long-lost half brother and paid respects to the orphanage that took him in.

"I still marvel at how it all worked out. I have no anger or resentment and the events of the visit are etched deeply in my heart and mind," he said in an interview with The Japan Times last month.