In the corner of a cemetery near the central part of the city of Kagoshima stands an independent ossuary. The charnel house, administered by the Kagoshima Municipal Government, is home to unidentified people who lost their lives in the bombings of the city during World War II. But few people know that among those laid to rest there are crewmen of a North Korean spy ship that sank off the coast in 2001.
Between March and August 1945, the city was hit by eight air raids that left more than 3,300 people dead. The remains of the unidentified victims of the bombings were laid to rest at the ossuary, which is periodically cleaned and decorated with flowers by residents appointed by the city.
It was in December 2001 when Kagoshima once again found itself in peril when a North Korean spy vessel entered Japan's territorial waters in the East China Sea and sank there.